"Huff! Huff! Huff!" Shama’s ragged breaths echoed through the dark forest. Tap. Tap. Tap. Her shoes pounded against the forest floor, the rhythm erratic, fueled by panic. A sharp pain throbbed in her forehead where blood trickled down, and her clothes clung to her skin, drenched in crimson. Her legs trembled, exhaustion threatening to overwhelm her, but she forced herself to keep moving. "I didn’t do it," she whispered between gasps. "I... I didn’t—" She dared a glance behind her, her heart hammering, expecting someone to emerge from the shadows. But in that fleeting moment, her foot caught on a rock. She fell. The forest floor rushed up to meet her, and the world around her dimmed as everything went black. --- Earlier that day, Shama lay sprawled across her bed, lost in the colorful pages of her favorite comic book, *Mystical World of Mythical Creatures*. She giggled to herself as her eyes danced across the familiar illustrations and stories she knew by heart. "Why can
Last Updated : 2021-06-25 Read more