Elius was just about to step forward—his mind racing, thoughts forming, ready to approach the boy with the swirling sand—when a loud, blaring, completely out-of-place ringtone shattered the entire atmosphere like a lightning bolt crashing through a peaceful meadow.
RING RING RING!!!
DADADADADA-DUN! DUN DUN DUN!!!
It was one of those default ringtones.
The kind that ships with factory phones. Loud. Jarring. Cringe-inducing.
Every sidekick in the area froze.
Elius, eyes wide in horror, looked down at his pocket. His ancient, dusty smartphone buzzed again, the screen lighting up with the name "Mom"—Shannon—glowing with innocent urgency.
Elius stared at it, internally screaming.
Why didn't I mute it? Why did I leave it in loud mode!?
He fumbled it out of his coat like it was a live grenade and quickly turned around, walking toward the edge of the crowd as casually as he could. He pressed the green icon and answered.
"H-hello?" he whispered harshly.
