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2022.05.12
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顾虔凡✎
Qianfan GuWriter, art critic, translator, and editor. She runs the art publishing platform Gong Press and hosts the podcast Edited Recordings.
风很大，能听到沙子打在车身有如雨下的清脆声响。沙土弥漫之间，前窗望出去的路狭长且不知去向。
手机信号很微弱，只有GPS导航图上标志着我们这台车的小蓝点在慢慢朝着指定路线移动。前后左右目之所及全是沙漠，路也只是其中勉强看得见边界的一溜沙土。
警报来了——
「国家气象局：沙尘暴警报！此区域直至下午5:15都有遭到沙尘暴袭击的可能。如遇可视性瞬间骤降的情况，请立即停车求生！视线模糊时，务必停靠路肩，熄灭车灯，脚离刹车。婴儿、老人及有呼吸道系统疾病的人，请提前做好准备。」
“这路哪有路肩？”Y听完我转述的警报，坐在驾驶座上嘀咕，他紧紧把住方向盘的双手在冒汗。
我们继续龟行地开着。忽见右前侧有情况。
是一辆又大又长的货车翻倒了，司机和两个穿着制服前来救援的人站在车尾忙乎，看我们经过便微笑示意，好像在说：今天的天气真是绝了。
“居然有那么大的车会翻倒，”Y说，“我还以为这条路很窄。”
The wind was so strong. The sound of sand hitting the side of the car was crisp, like rain falling. Amidst the swirling sand and dust, the road ahead of the windshield appeared long and narrow, leading to parts unknown. Cellphone reception was very weak, with only the GPS navigation map marking the small blue dot of our car creeping along the designated route. In every direction as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but desert, the road merely a faint line of sand visible at its boundary. Then the alert came— “National Weather Service: DUST STORM WARNING for this area until 5:15PM. Be ready for sudden drop to zero visibility. Pull Aside, Stay Alive! When visibility drops, pull far off the road and put your vehicle in park. Turn the light off and keep your foot off the brake.” After I relayed the alert, Y muttered from the driver’s seat: “Is there even a shoulder on this road?” He gripped the steering wheel, hands sweating profusely. We crawled onwards, at a turtle’s pace. Suddenly, we caught a glimpse of something happening up ahead on the right. A big, long truck had overturned. The driver and two people in uniform who had come to his rescue were busying themselves at the back of the truck. As we passed by, they smiled at us as if to say, Some weather we got today.
“I didn’t know that a truck that big could flip over,” Y said. “I thought this road was too narrow for that.”