The sun beat down on the highway, a relentless, unforgiving glare. Tonia walked, her mind a chaotic storm of grief and despair, each step an aimless drift further into nothingness. The world felt like a cruel joke, force-feeding her bitter water while everyone else drank from sweet springs.

A horn blared, a screech of tires cutting through her haze. An oncoming vehicle, a sleek car with a couple inside, swerved violently. A woman's scream, 'Oh my god!', followed by the jarring halt of metal against asphalt. Tonia found herself on the ground, the hot pavement rough against her cheek, the scent of burning rubber acrid in the air.

Voices began to swirl around her, distant and muffled. 'You have killed her!' someone shouted. Then, another, clearer voice: 'She is breathing, hurry and take her to the hospital!' Strong hands lifted her, and she was gently, yet quickly, transferred into the very car that had almost ended her sorrow. The concerned faces of Mr. Badmus and his wife, Madam Florence, blurred as darkness began to consume her.