The Million Dollar Paperweight

The Ferrari was red. Or at least, it used to be.

Now, it was the color of the dunes. A thick, matte layer of beige dust coated the hood, turning a $300,000 machine into a ghost.

I ran my finger across the windshield. The glass was hot enough to burn skin. Under the dust, I saw it: The keys were still in the ignition.

Tourists love to take photos of these abandoned beasts at the airport lots. They tell stories about bankrupt CEOs fleeing the country before the law catches up. They say the owners ran to the terminal, dropped the car, and flew away forever.

But I stood there, listening to the wind hiss through the grill.

The leather seat was indented. Fresh. The engine block clicked—the sound of hot metal cooling down.

He didn't fly away. The desert is hungry, and sometimes, it doesn't just take the car. It takes the driver too.

I wiped my fingerprint off the glass and walked away. I wasn't going to be the next one to touch the curse.

⚡ Shoorty’s Reality Glitch

The Fact: There are roughly 2,000 to 3,000 high-performance luxury cars abandoned in Dubai every year. Mechanics call them "Dust orphans." While most are due to debt laws, some are found in perfect condition with full tanks of gas, deepening the mystery.