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I didn’t expect to find myself stuck in the driest desert in the world at five a.m with five girls I only met a month ago. But there I was, all five feet of me, pushing the back of van that “sleeps six.” After an hour of us pushing, we decided we were absolutely, completely stuck in the endless sand—with no phone service. By pure luck, four friends happened to have camped by us in their truck (with four-wheel drive), and told us they would call the tow-service as soon as they got service on their way out. So, we sat, the six of us, in the van staring at the stars. When we think of deserts, we think of the scorching hot sun and dry air, but some may be surprised to find that in the night, deserts are very, very cold. I look around at the sad, tired faces of the girls as we cuddle together for heat. I’m not one who likes to sit waiting, and I’m especially not one who likes to see people down. “That’s it!” I say, “I’m making us hot coco!” I pull on my jacket, second pair of sweats, and gloves. The cold air hits my face as I walk to the back of the van and pull up the back door. While these vans may not have four-wheel drive, they do have a super cool kitchen setup in the back with a pump-sink and two portable gas stoves. I try to turn on the first-stove with no luck. We must have used all the gas cooking last night. Pulling out the brand-new stove, I can’t help but get excited at the thought of warm coco in just a few minutes. Turning on the stove, a strange smell starts to hit my nose. Could it be gas? “Hey, could anyone come check this real quick? I think it smells like gas.” I shout into the van. Two of my friends come out and check it out. “I really don’t smell anything. It must be the old one,” one of them says as they jump back into the little protection from the cold that the van provides. The other one, Amanda, wraps one arm around me and covers us with the blanket she brought out. We can’t help but cuddle around the small gas stove in the back of the van, seeking its heat. “Wow, it’s so nice and warm,” Amanda hums. BOOM!!! I am staring at a giant fire engulfing the stove in the back of the van. I start to scream as we jump back and I see the girls opening the doors, diving to the ground. I look around and can only see sand, huge cacti, and a giant fire in the back of a van. Using the only thing I can think of, I grab the sand and start throwing it on the fire to get it down. A few of the girls help me and I can’t help but watch with awe as it starts going down. Without thinking, I reach through the smaller flames and turn the gas off as quick as I can. A few more handfuls of dirt and the fire is completely out. I throw the stove into the sand for good measure, look up at the sky, and wonder, “really?” None of us can say a word as we look around, the back of the van covered in dirt, three of the girls still on the ground and the two next to me panting as the adrenaline wears out. I start laughing. Full, belly laughing. I think I scare a few of the girls so much that we all can’t help but laugh. Here we are, fighting a fire in the back of our van. While we beat the fire, we were still quite stuck in the desert without any hot coco.