Ceremony
She was not prepared for the blast of heat as she left the artificial cool of the Metro station. The summer was like an oven and bathed the street in brilliant, harsh, white light. The sand in the vacant block beside her blazed brilliant white, while the breeze lifted it into little columns and eddies which seemed to hang in the air for the moment before collapsing. The ubiquitous hotel and apartment buildings lined the street, behind which rose the odd oblong of the Ski Dubai construction....