Mara pulled the hood of her jacket tighter as the wind sliced through the pine trees, carrying the scent of damp earth and distant smoke. The town of Hollowbrook lay silent beneath a bruised sky, its streets flickering with the…
The air in Willow Creek tasted like rust and pine resin as Mara stepped off the bus, her boots crunching gravel. The town had not changed in ten years—same crooked streetlights, same peeling mural of a fox on the general…
Mara Voss stepped off the creaking bus, her boots crunching over gravel as the scent of pine and damp earth filled her lungs. Blackthorn had not changed in ten years—same rusted streetlights, same crooked storefronts, same air of quiet desperation.…
Maya sat at her desk, the glow of her monitor casting blue light across the sterile office walls. The hum of fluorescent lights blended with the rhythmic clatter of keyboards, a sound she’d long since tuned out. Her fingers hovered…
Mara’s fingers flew over the keyboard, each keystroke a hammer against the silence of her cramped office. The screen glowed blue, casting shadows across the stacks of coffee cups and half-read industry journals. She stared at the analytics dashboard, her…
Mara stepped off the bus into the thick July air, her boots crunching gravel as she scanned the town square. The clock tower’s hands hung frozen at 3:17, a relic from the 1920s when the town had last updated anything.…
Clara stepped off the creaking bus, her boots crunching gravel as the scent of pine and damp earth filled her lungs. The town of Blackthorn had not changed in ten years—same crooked streetlights, same rusted gate at the cemetery, same…