𝘏𝘈𝘜𝘕𝘛 𝘔𝘌 - 𝘏𝘜𝘈𝘕𝘎 𝘙𝘌𝘕𝘑𝘜𝘕

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Scrolling through the wondrous internet, Yana clutched her phone as she cocooned herself into a ball, knees pressed into her chest as her baggy hoodie drowned her.

She rocked subtly, hearing the distant growling of the car engine and the quiet grinding of wheels against the rough road.

Desperate to leave her hometown, she had somehow worked up enough money to buy a house in Seoul, and was on her way to her new home, far, far away from the small city she had grown up in.

A hood pulled over her head, Yana adjusted her earbuds, and allowed the soft, sweet tunes of lo-fi music to wash over her, lulling her into a sense of tranquility.

The slight scent of lemon car freshener drifted through the air, resembling the smell of expired, citrusy lemonade that was long overdue for a trip to the trash can, but the girl didn't seem to mind, barely aware of the strange aroma.

Her eyes strayed from her phone, and she found herself staring out the window, eyes stinging as sunlight poured into her irises.

Expelling a silent sigh, Yana hugged her hoodie closer as the car's air conditioner caressed her skin, summoning goosebumps upon her arms and legs, causing her to shudder unnoticeably.

A flurry of colors decorated the sky, dappled with brush strokes of pearly white clouds, painted with rivers of blue, and illustrated upon the canvas of blue came a blinding light, shimmering brightly despite the unruly cold.

The street she rumbled over seemed eternal, and it resembled a pitch-black river, winding through the city endlessly.

Yana was used to dirt roads, small farms, and county fairs, not tall buildings, busy streets, and massive roller coasters decorating the city.

She was used to crowds of trees, not people, and driving through her new town felt like discovering a species of new human- ones that bustled together at any opportunity.

A small town girl lost in a big city, you could say.

Wandering aimlessly beneath the kind sunlight was a stream of people, bustling through shops and cafés with no stop in sight. Parents dressed in thin coats swung their children between the two, teenagers ambled lazily through the side walks- no doubt gossiping about the troubles in their rebellious lives- and those on their lonesome just drifted through the crowds like small ships through a sea.

Of course, there was another category of pedestrians that whirled past Yana's car window.

The transparent. The lost. The confused.

Mixed into the throng, men with horrific lacerations to their face, body, and mind stumbled onwards, eyes glazed over as they searched for home, a family, or company.

Women with bloodless holes gaping in their heads, chest, and heart floated like a zombies, passing through humans and objects alike, devoid of a beating heart.

Children with cavernous eye sockets, lacking the ability to see desperately reached out for their parents, unable to shed a single tear in their horrid afterlife.

Yana's lips pursed into a thin line as she watched them, eyes fixating on a young boy with a black and blue, bruised neck- seemingly choked to death. She stared through him, biting her lip as an oblivious pedestrian swung their bag through his head, yet he didn't notice- merely continuing to sway towards his unfixed destination.

Yana could see ghosts.

Not that she wanted to of course, for it was rather annoying for the girl, but what could she do? She was cursed with this ability, and there wasn't a way to get rid of it.

Yana nicknamed the unresponsive ones Wanderers; that was all they did anyway- wander. Those were the deceased that had been trapped within the world of the living for too long, and had begun to fade away, affected by the constant waves of history that wore them down.

You see, even the deceased was controlled by time. One can lose themselves when they lack a purpose, and, as death continues, one might disappear- lead onto whatever was after their veggie-state of demise.

Yana tore her gaze away from the bunch, returning her stare to her phone.

Glancing up towards her taxi driver, she expelled a long breath from her lungs, eyelids heavy and limbs weak.

It was going to be a long road trip.