Zuli

Zuli always ran fast. The fastest of any girl in the harbor. They’d hold races and she would always be the victor. And she would laugh and hug her brother and her sister in celebration. Nothing could tear them apart, even if Zuli ran faster than the wind. Even when they grew up. Even when Zhaji changed and when Zenzi died.
Zuli runs fast because she can’t let the tears run faster. Winding roads and sandy dunes, winding roads and sandy dunes. Bones and skulls all around. Sun-bleached and picked clean. Her footing’s getting a bit uneven. Unkempt roads and skeletons. Unkempt roads and skeletons. Zuli’s been running for a while now.
Where was she? A long way from town. Lost to the desert night. She slows down. The cold air burns her lungs. The tears are gone and she can see. The stars look down in pity. In the distance she hears a cry. A piercing one, a dangerous one.
Oh no. What trouble has she wandered into this time? And again the beast bellows. It’s telling her to leave, that if she doesn’t she’s going to join the skeletons in the sand, rotting and burnt. But she doesn’t. She has nowhere to go. And so she falls to the ground.
A flapping of wings and another bellow. But nothing happens. The beast sits before her, a deadly drake. In its horrible eyes and dreadful teeth she hears her brother’s screams. But was it the drake or was it her brother? She can tell that nobody’s there.
Perhaps he had truly left her in the dust.