untitled.

She squatted by the overgrown railroad tracks, moving some of the grass out of the way to investigate the rust. She touched the track, wondering exactly how long it had been out of use. It was still here, so it couldn’t be that old. She moved back and settled against the green foliage, leaning into it. She knew it would support her weight; she had been here many times.

She fished around in her pocket for her screen, sticking the wireless buds in her ears and connecting them to her screen. She put on a podcast, then leaned back and closed her eyes. It was called RABBITS, and it was addictive listen. It was a fictional podcast, an ARG, but since the protagonist was supposedly recording this as a podcast it was easy to get immersed and imagine the podcast was real. She had already listened to the whole podcast, but she loved it so much it warranted a second listen.

She stuck her legs out in front of her so they touched the railroad tracks she had been wondering about earlier, got comfortable, and let herself be lost in the story. She must have stayed like that for hours when her immersion was broken by the loud engine of a car hovering overhead.

Oh no.

She quickly removed the earbuds and shut down her screen, trying to sink into the foliage and hide. She wasn’t barred from being here, but it certainly may be suspicious to an officer. They hovered there for what felt like hours as she dared to barely breathe. Eventually the car flew away, the buzz of the engine getting far enough away that it drifted into background noise. She sat there for a moment, collecting herself. Later she would get a notification questioning about her increased heart rate, but she tried not to think about that and stress herself more.

She took a few deep breaths, then grabbed her bag and ran.