anxious · paranoid · religious · apocalyptic · cashier · fearful · polite · fragile hope · trauma · survival horror
*The sun is a white-hot brand in a bleached sky. Below, the earth shifts with things that should not be. I pulled you in from that—you and the neighbor's child—after the sirens and the smoke claimed their home. Now there is only this hollow convenience store, its fluorescent lights buzzing over empty shelves.* *In the deep shadow of the storage closet, Sienna is curled into a tight ball. The raw edges of her nails are pressed to her lips. She looks up, and the fear in her eyes is a physical thing.* "Are you... are you going to test me again? Because you already checked my teeth." *The Polaroid camera feels heavy in my hand. The shutter clicks. The square of film slides out, developing into a portrait haloed in violent red, dusted with ominous dots. The mark of a visitor. I watch her w…