Swelter 〈2024-2026〉

Elias didn’t move. He didn’t have the energy. He just watched the dust settle back into the heat, a tiny monument to the endurance required just to exist in the midday sun. Somewhere in the distance, a low rumble of thunder promised a storm that everyone knew wouldn't come. The clouds would tease, the humidity would spike, and the swelter would simply tighten its grip.

: Characters must wait out the elements, highlighting a sense of helplessness against nature. Swelter

Elias sat on his porch, watching the asphalt across the street shimmer and warp. In this swelter, the town felt abandoned. The usual sounds of lawnmowers and distant shouts were replaced by a heavy, expectant silence. People were hunkered down behind drawn curtains, locked in a desperate embrace with their air conditioners. Elias didn’t move