The rain poured harder than ever, blackening the sky outside and flooding the street in front of the store where Kael Aslv sat, sipping his cup of coffee. Its warm but bitter aroma rose toward his face, comforting and cruel at the same time.
Kael's lips touched the cup. He murmured under his breath,
"I barely have any money left to survive."
Outside, the rain hammered the pavement like a thousand needles. People rushed past with their umbrellas, shadows sliding through the storm. The coffee shop buzzed with quiet chatter, cups clinking, chairs scraping — life moving, even when his felt paused.
{Flashback}
A man's body lay on the ground, blood mixing with the relentless rain until the red faded into the asphalt. A small child knelt beside him, shaking violently, tears cutting through the rain on his face.
"Dad… Dad… Don't leave me alone!"
His screams echoed through the drenched alley, raw and desperate. Two guards approached, their boots splashing through bloody puddles. They grabbed the child by the arms.
The boy kicked and clawed at the air.
"NO! NOOO!"
The rain swallowed the last traces of the man as the guards dragged the child away, his cries fading into the storm.
{Back to present}
Kael took another sip of his bitter coffee, eyes lost in the rain-soaked world beyond the window.
"Wish that never happened," he whispered, almost to the storm itself.
The door creaked open. A man stepped into the shop, rain dripping off his coat, his wet boots tapping sharply against the wooden floor. He walked to the counter and removed his fogged glasses, blinking.
"Can I get a cup of coffee?" he asked gently.
The shopkeeper's lips curved into a small smile.
"One dollar."