It was too late.
The city had us now, pulling us forward, faster, tumbling toward the night.
The streets blurred—headlights, taillights, neon bleeding into the rising steam. The past stretched behind us in red and white streaks, the future just a flicker in the distance.
Somewhere behind us, a street cart was shutting down for the night, the last burnt pretzel still smoldering on the grill.
Don't Walk flashing. Beckoning us forward. It was always the same story.