Tick Tock

That evening, the forest was not itself. The trees they used to laugh beneath seemed taller, closer, as if bending to eavesdrop on their footsteps. Layan walked in the middle, pulling her coat tight around her slender body, her eyes watching the sky that had begun to thicken with heavy black clouds. To her right was Adam, sarcastic as usual, trying to hide his anxiety behind a provoking smile, and to her left was Younis, the quietest of them, walking in silence as if something in the place were triggering an…