THE WHALE GRAVEYARD
by Marta Camps-Gonzalez, ‘23
Sweat ran down Petra Finch’s neck as sharp gains of sand dug into her skin and stuck anywhere they found a surface. The sweltering heat grasped its arid hand around her throat and in the burning grip Petra coughed dryly. She was exhausted and thirsty but at least the worst heat of the day was passing. Glancing toward Lewis Maxwell she saw her colleague had set the shovel aside and was gulping down the remaining drops of their water. Irritation boiled inside of her at this and she left the excavation she was working on, kicking up a cloud of sand in her wake. “Hey Lewis, you realize that’s the only bottle left, right?” She managed to gasp out when Petra reached him. “Oh, well I guess we better head back now.” Lewis said as he held the bottle upside down and a single drop splattered on the ground. Petra frowned in frustration at his foolishness since anyone who’s been to the desert knows you can never be without water. Pushing back the strands of hair that had stuck to the side of her head, she made her way back to the area she’d been working on to collect her tools. As she did this methodically, Petra’s mind wandered to her little apartment in the hot city where she’d go later and find her computer just like she’d left it- with the email open. On her simple wooden table, it would sit patiently for her to return and finally face it. Petra would leave that room every day and take the van with Lewis and the rest of the group to this scorching patch of land they were digging up. Every day she would take her weathered notebook and scribble down the date and measurements of that day’s excavation but below her feetthe ground only offered empty -handed, miniature, and itchy rock particles. In an instant she was brought back to that email. She’d read it so many times Petra knew exactly what it offered: a fulltime principal investigator archeologist job opportunity in Chile that paid triple what she earned now and included all expenses. Her head spun with the idea of going there, or was it just the heat? The yellow and orange tones of fire that sprawled across the landscape started to blend with the sky’s blue as night approached. Petra finished clearing up and headed toward Lewis and the rest of the group who were waiting for the van to arrive. But an unusually large and irregular pebble caught her eye. With her last strength she bent over to pick it up while still holding on to the tools and papers in the other hand. It felt strange in her hand and kind of reminded her of her long days of lab work at universi7
