The walk home was uneventful. Elias meandered down the familiar streets, his mind heavy with the same thoughts that had been plaguing him for weeks. As he passed by the small corner store, he glanced over at the shelves, noticing how everything in his life seemed so predictable. The same rows of snacks, the same faces in the shop, the same advertisements plastered on the walls. Nothing ever changed. Nothing ever felt different.
He adjusted the straps of his backpack and glanced up at the sky. The sun was beginning to dip lower, casting long shadows over the streets. Elias slowed his pace, lost in thought, until a loud screech of tires brought him back to reality. Before he could react, there was a blur of motion, the sound of honking, and then... the sharp pain.
Everything happened so fast. A truck had swerved suddenly, its tires screeching as it veered off the road and struck him. There was no time for fear, no time to process what was happening. Just a sharp, agonizing pain as the world seemed to crumble around him. The force of the impact sent him flying, and his vision blurred into a dark void.
As his consciousness began to fade, one final thought passed through Elias's mind—This can't be how it ends...
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