The desert sun beat down without mercy, turning the horizon into a shimmering mirage. The girl trudged through the ochre dust, every step heavier than the last. Her skin felt tight, her lips cracked, her thoughts drifting like sand on the wind. Half-dried and fighting to stay upright, she clung to the faint hope that something—anything—lay ahead besides endless heat.

Then, as the light wavered before her eyes, shapes began to form. At first she thought it was another trick of the desert, but the outlines sharpened: wooden storefronts, leaning signposts, a windmill spinning lazily in the hot breeze. A town. Real, or close enough that she didn’t care.

She stumbled toward it, heart pounding, dust rising around her boots. The street was quiet, save for the creak of a saloon door and the distant whine of a weathered sign swinging on rusty chains. Whatever waited inside that forgotten place, it was more than the desert had offered—and for now, that was enough to pull her inside