It started like any other evening. Quiet streets. Familiar routines. People settling into the comfort of their homes as the day faded out. There was no sense of urgency, no clear warning that anything unusual was about to unfold. Just another ordinary night in a town that had seen its share of storms and always managed to move on.
Then the sky changed.
At first, it was subtle. A shift in the air, a distant rumble that sounded like any other approaching storm. People glanced outside but didn’t think much of it. Storms come and go. Rain passes. Thunder rolls. Life continues.