6-The Pressure is Building

Welcome to My Cozy Corner!

First and foremost, welcome, dear reader! You’re about to embark on a journey unlike any other—a story that invites you to settle in, get comfortable, and experience something truly unique.

By reading beyond chapter six, you have opened an insightful book. A story that's unique and heartfelt. But most of all, it is filled with useful, exciting knowledge. If you decide to leave now, you might be missing out on giving a new writer’s voice a chance to shine—a story that deserves to be heard.

As you turn the pages and venture through the chapters that follow, you’re inviting this story to reshape your reading experience. By the journey’s end, you may just discover something you never knew you needed.

How far will you go? For my sake—and perhaps yours—I hope you’ll read to the very last word.

These promises are heartfelt, not just clever narrative tricks. I invite you to open your mind and embrace something new. By staying with me on this journey, you'll become part of the story’s success. Should you choose to walk away, you might just miss out on something truly remarkable.

Since you’ve made it this far, I invite you to take the next step—dive into the chapters ahead. Relax, enjoy, and let yourself be drawn in. And don’t forget to subscribe and leave comments. What you have read thus far is just the beginning of the adventure, and there is more awaiting you!

Sincerely, your author

Uniquely, yours

Chapter 6

Nothing felt the same anymore to Autumn. She missed the easy laughter, music drifting from porch radios, the feeling of slipping into a crowd and belonging there. But she knew she was needed. Auntie depended on her now, more than ever, and even if Auntie never said so, Autumn could see it in the weary way she moved. Mahdfel needed Auntie, too, and by extension, needed Autumn.

So she stayed. Even as the world seemed to unravel, Autumn remained—a quiet anchor in a restless tide.

She didn’t know what would come next. But she had no idea this was only the beginning of critical times.

Autumn stopped mid-step, her hand stilling on the doorframe, as the television’s urgent voices spilled into the kitchen. For a moment, the world outside faded, and the weight of what she heard pressed down on her chest. The news was no longer just background noise—every headline now hit home. Even her tiny town, her little corner outside of Terra, wasn’t safe from the storms brewing far away. She felt it in the air many months ago. Still, she now knows others recognize that something peculiar is going on, as evidenced by the way her neighbors’ eyes darted anxiously amid the tension that had taken root in her hometown.

Mahdfel had always seemed like a forgotten dot on the map, a sleepy town where everyone knew each other’s secrets and the biggest excitement was the annual harvest festival. But lately, even here, the shadows from Terra, the nearest large city, crept closer. The problems there—crime, violence, corruption—were no longer distant rumors. The city’s chaos poured in through every screen and every shaken traveler. Worst of all, Autumn realized, was the sense that Terra’s greatest threat was its own government officials; they no longer cared and were tearing themselves apart from within.

For years and years, the ruling figures have tried every form of government known to man with the hope of bringing peace to the world. Over the centuries, they have had their chance at Democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, authoritarianism, (dictatorship), and totalitarianism, but guess what? They all have failed. Why?

Its ruling powers have never solved human problems; they just patched them up, making one poor decision after another. Only to turn around and make an even worse one, instead of changing their ways and greed. Over and over, they have used a band-aid to cover up severe mistakes and decisions that continue to shred the world to pieces. It's become so bad that the ruling governments can no longer hide the catastrophes they have inflicted on one another and their subjects.

Terra, Madhfel's beautiful capital city. It's plummeting into imminent destruction as well. Bandages of fake promises and repairs to the political infrastructure can no longer close up the gaping holes of despair.

For many of their citizens, it's become evident that something is wrong. So wrong, it's become noticeable everywhere as Terra's problems have begun to spill over, even into the smallest towns, like Mahdfel, with a population of 5000.

As for Autumn and her Aunt Rose, the problems that afflicted Terra weren’t just something they watched on the news anymore. It was real. The store, Great Buys, where Autumn was a part-time sales clerk, had laid her off after three years. She could still remember the look on her boss’s face—apologetic, helpless—when he’d told her he just couldn’t afford to keep her on any longer. Business had dried up, and people just weren't shopping anymore. That meant Autumn’s plans dried up, too. Now, every day, she wondered: How was she supposed to become independent and leave Mahdfel to start a life when even the basics felt out of reach?

Autumn thought, 'This can't be happening. I hoped to save enough money one day to move away from Mahdfel.'

But there has been a severe job shortage in Mahdfel, from the little corner grocery store to the bank. The pressure is building. So many people were laid off and were without work. When Autumn brought her Auntie the bad news, she didn't take it well. She tried to explain to her aunt that there were no jobs available.

"Auntie Rose, I know that you are under financial pressure to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. For longer than you planned to, but I promise you, I haven't been able to find a job anywhere, and I'm looking every day."

"Well, Autumn, you know what they say, if you can't work, you don't eat. So your food portions will have to decrease drastically around here."

"Fine! I’m trying here, Aunt Rose," Autumn shot back, her voice trembling with frustration. "You know I am. I help out with your patients, I wake up at dawn and work until I’m exhausted. Doesn’t that count for something? I mean, I’m not asking for much—just two meals a day. It’s not like you pay me for helping out."

Aunt Rose just shook her head and stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Autumn leaning against the chipped wallpaper, fists clenched at her sides. It felt like no matter how hard she worked—scrubbing floors, fetching bandages, calming patients—her aunt never saw her. Or maybe, Autumn thought, she just didn’t want to.

Autumn lately has been keenly interested in watching the morning and nightly news. The minute she finishes helping patients, she hurries down the stairs to catch up on any new information. Things changed and happened by the hour, it seemed. Some of her aunts' new patients have been people who come from the surrounding major cities, like Terra. Their stories about those who are protesting and the violence are alarming and frightening in their inner cities.

The people tell her of the unthinkable suffering that’s going on and how the authorities are self-consumed. They can’t or don't want to do anything to stop it. So many cities are experiencing high unemployment, violent crimes, robbery, rapes, murders, and mass shootings daily. Not to mention the strange weather patterns that have been cropping up unexpectedly without any warning. These storms have caused many to lose their homes without any way to repair them, leaving many people homeless.

That night, as Autumn lay awake listening to distant thunder, a single question echoed in her mind—a question she was almost afraid to answer:

What if the eerie storm Mahdfel experienced was only the beginning of the end?