It was freezing. Were it not for the fact that Valdi and his father had woken up to find that there was actually nothing appropriate to eat for breakfast, nothing could have compelled Valdi to leave the house. But the circumstances couldn't be changed and so, with a small number of banknotes, Valdi was walking the streets to their favored grocery store. He pulled his hood up, trying to conserve as much body heat as possible. Hopefully, today was an anomaly and it'd be better tomorrow. [i]Ting ting.[/i] Valdi stepped aside to let a bicyclist pass. Some people, he swore. To the bicyclist's credit, he had chosen a fairly decent hour to ride, since the sidewalks were relatively clear of pedestrians and at least hadn't just rushed by. Valdi supposed that much was true. It didn't change the fact that the man had been in a t-shirt and shorts. Valdi could see his breath when he exhaled, what was that guy thinking? Some people. He reached the end of the block and entered the store, the door's bell making a soft ringing as he did. The cashier looked his way and gave a polite nod, which Valdi returned before going through the aisles for what he needed. A couple of jars of spice, a bottle of soy sauce, some fish - he looked at the larger, unprepared fish. Would there be time to cook it before his father had to leave for work? He looked between his options before an odd sound caught his attention - it sounded something like a distant church bell. He was fairly certain there was no church in the area. The cashier looked up to the sound of breaking glass. Well, with no one else around... She left her position and tried to find the source. The store was small so it was quick: someone - likely the boy - had dropped and shattered several glass jars. Yet, he was nowhere to be found... --- Tarana sat at the breakfast table, headphones around her neck and ready to leave. She was already running a bit late, a result of oversleeping, and it didn't help that breakfast had ended up burnt. Her parents refused to let her leave without a meal of some kind and so she had little choice but to shovel the food into her mouth as quickly as possible to avoid the taste. Certainly not her best morning ever. After swallowing the last piece of scorched meat, Tarana ran to the door, yanking her headphones on as she did, and slid to a halt near her shoes. Why had she undone the laces the night before? Why? Screw it, she'd tie them when she got there. As long as they didn't fly off, it wasn't that big of a deal, right? She shouted a quick goodbye before leaving the house and almost immediately crashing into someone. "Ah - accept my apologies, ma'am." She made a short bow while wondering what the person had been doing so close to her house. She seemed rather old, and Tarana wondered if she had gotten lost. Certainly, she'd never seen her before so she doubted this was some relative of the family. "I really must be on my way, though." She took a step back from the woman, walked around, and continued on her way. Once she reached the end of the road, she glanced behind her to see what, if anything, the old woman had done. It seemed she had done something: she vanished. Tarana was pretty certain she had been real - she still felt a bit off-balance. She turned on her music player and picked up her pace.