"I remember nothing but the destination I was heading to. Which is why I just got here" etched in purple against a pitch-black background. The words linger ominously before fading out. As the words fade, the image of Ella emerges. She’s lying on the cold, cracked asphalt of an empty parking lot. There are no cars, no people—just her. Ella's eyes flutter open, slowly at first, and she takes in her surroundings with a sense of quiet understanding. Without hesitation, she stands up, adjusting her clothes as though this is all just another moment in her journey. Her mind is foggy, blank, save for one thing: where she is supposed to go. It’s the only thing she remembers, the only tether to her reality. As she walks through the eerily quiet parking lot, her eyes catch something unusual—a suitcase lying on the ground, out of place in the barren lot. She picks it up without thinking, holding it with a strange familiarity. A black car with a massive white ice cream cone on its roof cruises by slowly. The car circles her, its presence unsettling but surreal, like a dream. Then it stops directly in front of her. The driver, dressed as an ice cream man, has no face—just a black void where features should be. Still, Ella doesn’t hesitate. She climbs into the car. The scene shifts, fragmented. Now Ella is alone in the car. Flashbacks flicker briefly, disjointed, showing her arrival in a place that could only be described as heaven. Her face remains calm, determined, walking toward a destination that remains unspoken. The memory fades, and she is once again in the car, the suitcase by her side. Inside the suitcase is a cassette tape labeled "COSMIC MIX VOL 1" With a quiet sense of understanding, as though everything suddenly makes sense, Ella takes the tape and slides it into the tape player. Now she seems to know the answer to a question she had forgotten she was asking.
Ella Gross
c.ai