February 13, 2025

We watched the demonstration being held down the road from the safety of our classroom until we heard a large commotion and emergency sirens blaring. We weren’t quite sure what was happening as glass fell from the high-rise in the construction site across the street. “They must’ve liked that” someone said. The sirens were now broadcasting a message saying that “an incident has occurred” while the dark mass of people gathered at the intersection were now running in our direction.

Fearing the prospect of violence, we quickly locked the doors and scurried into the deep recesses of the building. We figured we wouldn’t have a chance at holding the door against the horde of people, so our only option was to run.

After navigating through a dizzying maze of rooms, we finally reached a dead end. It was quiet. I rummaged through my backpack to see if I had left anything essential behind while I reorganized my stuff. Someone suggested that we start digging through the pipes under the sink.

A few moments later we were startled by a stranger rushing in through the door. “How did you get here?” we asked. Apparently they had heard the soft guitar plucking of one of our party members.