July 11, 2024

I was sitting in the backseat of the car with my parents. We were driving through the city in the middle of the night and I could see fallen buildings under the river we were cruising along. They were there from the previous earthquake that had hit the area.

It was already bright out by the time we decided to take a rest. We parked next to the highway and got out of the car in search of the nearest convenience store. The road was so wide that it was impossible to cross it in one go, I had to wait in the middle of the road for once-distant trucks to pass first. I was so tired by the time I got to the other side that I laid onto the grass to catch my breath. Apparently my dad had misinterpreted what had happened and rushed over to my side of the road despite giving him a thumbs up for reassurance.

A short moment later I got back up to continue our search. We walked alongside a street that broke off to the right and passed by a few local shops. There was a child who was trying to get our attention by dancing and pointing at a bottle of sparkling water they had in stock. I walked down a couple of steps to enter the store by its lower side entrance. I spotted a few sports drinks but it looked like they were reused bottles filled with water.

There was a cryptic message about dog heads posted on one of the walls of the store. It was at that moment a small fox-like creature jumped at my hand and latched itself onto my thumb. It didn’t particularly hurt but it refused to let go even as I swung it around. My uncle said that it was frustrated because I was “biting back”. Upon seeing him take out a small knife I threw my arm out harder than before and flung the animal into the wall.