By Mikayla Aubin

Deserts are portrayed as barren, empty, cold, unforgiving. Yet deserts hold some of the most fascinating lifeforms on the planet. These animals change and adapt to the weather like it’s second nature. No one seems to acknowledge these animals, though. All they acknowledge is their seemingly empty and arid façade. Deserts are usually the last place anyone wants to go. But as per usual, there is so much more to the empty plane that no one seems to come face to face with. The history, the wildlife, the people who have left their marks and treasures behind for the whole world to see, yet no one will come close. Only the ones who have studied this landscape enough to know what it will give them. Only the ones who have the time and resources to pick apart the deserts one by one.

A cold face is never inviting. You should always smile when you see people on the street. If you don’t, they’ll be scared, or even worse, worried. No one likes someone who can't be open. Who can’t show you how they feel. People get uneasy when they can’t read you. But, it is always better to have a cold front up then for someone to come in just to hurt you. To pick you apart and take only what’s valuable, what’s shiny, and ignore the rest of you. That cold front saves people. It keeps them out of harm's way. But then I always have to ask myself — is it better to speak, or to die?