You're in the walls that I made with crosses and frames /
Hanging upside down /
For granted, in vain, I took everything /
I ever cared about /
What was supposed to be a peaceful summer unravels into one of the most thrilling, tumultuous times of San...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
⋇⋆✦⋆⋇
The scorching sun bore down mercilessly, its heat so intense that it seemed almost impossible to believe a hurricane had ravaged Kildare island only days ago. Yet here they were, sweltering beneath a cloudless sky, the marvels of Mother Nature already hard at work erasing all evidence of the storm as Sanaya Mendoza leaned casually against a weathered wooden post at the water's edge, her arm resting atop it. She watched Sarah kneel in front of the little girl who had brought them to this remote spot, the older girl's loose hair trailing over her shoulder as she crouched to speak at eye level.
Sanaya, however, barely registered the low murmur of their conversation. Her mind wandered, drifting to the missed chapters of her favourite webcomic, which had been tantalizingly close to completion before the island's spotty internet had cut out. She huffed in quiet frustration, thinking of the half-read panel where she'd left off. It was the latest in a series of small inconveniences that added up to an irritating whole—though she had to admit that they'd been luckier than most. The generators on their side of the island had spared them the worst of the outages, whereas others, particularly those on the Cut—the poorer sector—were still without power.
Her gaze flickered down toward the little girl, whose thin limbs and pale face bore a startling resemblance to the scrawny mice they had spent half of yesterday protecting from hungry seabirds. It had been Sarah's idea, of course. Her friend always had a penchant for helping the helpless. One look at the vulnerable creatures on the sand, darting about with nowhere to hide, had been enough to convince her that chasing the birds away would be the most productive use of their time, and somehow, she had roped Sanaya into it too, the two of them racing up and down the beach like lunatics as gulls screeched and circled overhead.
"So you left her on the boat, right?" Sarah's voice reached her, snapping Sanaya out of her reverie.
The little girl nodded earnestly, her head bobbing with the motion as she described the lost toy meant to be retrieved.
Sanaya blinked in surprise, her relaxed posture straightening against the post. Surely, she couldn't mean...
Without waiting for any confirmation, Sarah got to her feet and grasped the very post Sanaya was leaning against. Her movements were swift as she stepped onto the rickety wooden plank that connected the pier to the dilapidated boat bobbing listlessly in the water a few yards away. It tilted slightly under her weight, the old wood creaking in protest. Instinctively, Sanaya's hand shot forward, and Sarah clasped it with a grateful squeeze, using the support to balance herself as she ventured onto the narrow walkway.
"Be careful of the electricity," the little girl warned timidly.
Sanaya's gaze followed the child's outstretched finger, and there, upon the boat's deck, she saw the mess of dark wires coiled and tangled like a nest of vipers. Amid the splintered debris left behind by the hurricane, the cables sprawled in chaotic twists, their exposed copper gleaming ominously in the sun.
