Just in case it's okay for me to submit in comment form, I'm going to go for it. Let me know if this doesn't count.

Trees of gold lined the empty plaza. Maybelle looked back and wondered out loud: does she ever think of me? It was a rhetorical question, as all questions are when you’re alone, and she wouldn’t like the answer anyway. Dust on the desert horizon coalesced into opaque, murky waves, with the vague scent of dessicated leather scattered along a glass surface. Maybelle thought about running out as far as she could until her legs would no longer carry her, to expel the burgeoning energy brought about by incessant curiosity and nagging loneliness. Such an action would of course result in her certain demise; without water, she would perish under leaden, oppressive heat. What was it, 95, 100 degrees (that’s measured in Fahrenheit, for any confused international readers). In contrast to the perfectly manicured plaza littered with invasive species that would wilt if taken away from the confines of the town limits, lonely Joshua Trees dotted the landscape for as far as she could see. It was a perfect day for her to feel this way, and for that, she was thankful.