The sky before dusk was filled with heat and light, an emptiness that promised nothing, yet held the fate of many. The heat robbed the earth of its life and stole the cool laughter of the creeks. The light exploded into raucous laughter at the ill fate of the living, and mocked the cows as they expelled a last pathetic grunt into the night. The cows closed their saddened eyes with an agony so intense that every soul filled creature felt a strange loss of dignity in their bones. And the great old trees wept until the morning.

The great old trees felt a song of dignity in the wind, and stopped weeping. The light and the heat, even in the depths of the night, could feel themselves being opposed by force stronger then they could resist. They could feel a cloud of justice bear down upon them, and they were afraid of the morning.

Ed's anxious eyes measured the cracks in the soil, and tested the moisture by kicking up the dust with his old workboots. He pulled his akubra hat down over his freckled ears, protecting his balding head from the fate of his cattle. Sweat glistened on his forehead and ran down his back. His dog had collapsed beneath an old resilient gum tree, and he aspired to join him, but not before he inspected the casualties of the night. A desperate sigh escaped his lips as he slowly counted the yearlings that lay, covered in ants, upon the ground. He felt his heart wither as he prepared to farewell his dreams. The sun climbed the cloudless sky and released the demons of his hardships to mock him. Ed wet his lips and continued towards the dusty creek. He sat himself upon a rock and silently endured the stifling heat. A bearded dragon was basking himself nearby. He was an offspring of the drought, a product of man's despair and the sun's impartial cruelty. The lizard blinked and darted under a cracked rock. Even the cold-blooded did not enjoy the completeness of this heat. A dry, hot wind kissed Ed upon his damp neck. Flies that came to feed off the cattle carcasses buzzed around his legs. He went back inside and waited for the dusk.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ed Hummel, , heat light, akubra hat, renew moisture,
Approximate Word count = 1042
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)