The sun dips low over the Pacific, casting a warm orange glow across the endless expanse of the ocean, while the towering palms along the boulevards sway lazily in the evening breeze. The streets pulse with life as neon signs flicker to life, buzzing softly over the crowded sidewalks where people move in a blur of color, their shadows stretching long as they pass under the streetlights. The smell of warm asphalt mixes with the distant scent of saltwater, creating a strange comfort in the air. Cars hum and weave between one another, their headlights cutting through the fading daylight, the city a cacophony of honks, distant chatter, and the low thrum of music drifting from open windows.

Above the city, the stars begin to pierce through the fading twilight, their light swallowed in the haze of smog that lingers over the skyline, where skyscrapers reflect the dying light in a mix of golds and purples. The hills to the north are swallowed in the glow of the city, the shadowed silhouettes of the famous sign standing tall against the backdrop. Downtown’s sharp angles clash with the smoother, older lines of the buildings closer to the coast, where the air grows saltier and the pace of life slows. In the distance, the rolling hills meet the ocean, a soft boundary between the chaos of the city and the wildness of nature.