Not much happens in my neighborhood just outside the city. The streets are quiet, lined with maple trees and modest homes, their weathered shingles telling stories of decades gone by.
The autumn air carries the sweet scent of decaying leaves, nature’s reminder that everything changes. At least, that’s what I thought until that crisp October afternoon when a simple trip to the grocery store changed everything.

A shocked man on the road | Source: Midjourney
As I walked home with my bags, I spotted a little girl, no older than six, sitting in the middle of the road. She was crying over her scraped knee while her bicycle lay on its side, its wheel still spinning lazily in the afternoon light.
My heart stopped when I saw where she was sitting — right before that notorious curve where drivers always speed, their tires squealing against the asphalt like angry cats.