Author's note. When you're drawn to being a writer motivation for a story can come from anywhere. Inspiration for this fictional tale began when my wife Elly and I were touring the USA and a flight over the Grand Canyon was cancelled due to low cloud. The next day, with four other tourists, we took a helicopter flight via the Hoover Dam into the spellbinding scenery of the Canyon for a picnic where all was well until the pilot stated we could walk over to the nearby Colorado River but advised we 'keep an eye open for Rattlesnakes'. This unforgettable experience ended with no sight or sound of danger in the foliage underfoot but collective relief when we boarded and lifted off. Back in our hotel I began making notes for a story combining the rugged Arizona interior, the merciless heat and how normality, in the blink of an eye, can change to sudden terror such as when, as a Paratrooper/Medic, I was billeted in a tented desert location in the UAE and picked up a rock to bang in a loose tent peg only to see a Scorpion crawl from beneath it before rapidly using the rock to give it a terminal headache. A memorable stomach-churning encounter I would draw heavily on when writing... 'Prairie Basin'

Barrie David