Coke or Pepsi?

Coke or Pepsi?
by
Jim Power
Copyright 2013

Imagine the camera panning to a a small, single-engine plane burning in the desert. A man is lying a short distance away, blood on his forehead, and he suddenly awakens after being knocked unconscious in the crash. He runs to the plane, grabs a knapsack filled with water bottles then runs away as the plane explodes. He looks around and as far as the eye can see there is only desert.

The man begins walking and comes to a sign that indicates two outposts. An arrow points east and states: "50 miles" and an arrow points west and states: "100 miles." He begins walking east.

The camera shows the man walking with a hopeful step at first, but the sun is blistering hot, and he consumes his water at an alarming rate. He walks, and walks, and walks. Several times the camera shows the cooking sun in a clear sky. Eventually the man falls, but he gets up, walks more miles, falls again, and continues like this for some time. He drinks the last of his water and holds his final canteen upside down but not a single drop comes out.

The camera now shows the man mightily struggling. His face is sunburned, his clothes ragged, his lips parched. He falls, begins to crawl, and then seems to give up. He raises his head a final time with sand on his nose and sees in the distance what looks like the outpost. He fears it may be a mirage.

The man gets up and staggers with the last of his energy to a deserted building and tentatively reaches out to touch the wooden deck. He is shocked to feel real wood and knows it is not a mirage. He walks around the corner and sees a Coke machine. It is lit and and shows and the picture of an ice cold can on the front. He hurries up to it, hauls out his wallet with fumbling hands, withdraws some change, and inserts it. He presses the button and hears the sound of a can tumbling down the chute. He is in ecstasy now as he licks his cracked lips. But then he sees a can of ice cold Pepsi land in the slot. He looks devastated and turns to his left, noticing for the first time a sign that reads: "Sorry, the Coke is all sold out."

The scene ends with the man walking toward the outpost 150 miles away, his jacket thrown over his shoulder, and his head down. The can of Pepsi is still in the slot, untouched.

Coke or nothing. - Jim Power