Lost-Found
As soon as I woke up, I searched for Risa, hoping to tell her about how realistic the dream that I had was, but I couldn't find her.
I searched from her tower to the ruins nearby, to the oasis nearby to the dunes that encompassed it all.
She had vanished.
I began to panic until I realised that I hadn't even checked her bedroom.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I made my way to the door.
It was locked from the outside.
The smell from the other side was horrid, nearly unbearable.
After a few moments of inner debate, I unlocked the door and stepped inside.
The smell intensified beyond what I thought was possible, forming an invisible wall between me and the rest of the scene.
I pushed past it, focusing on the floor.
It was covered in ash, not just the floor, but the walls and the ceiling, too.
I called her name one more time, scanning the room frantically.
Her bed was damaged beyond repair, a blackened mess of wooden debris on the ground.
My eyes fell onto an irregular shape in the corner, perfectly still.
I had found Risa.