We were only four hours into what was an island-wide power outage. The power wasn’t expected to return any time soon. Our phone batteries had died. The candlelight of some old candles, found in a moving box, provided a pinch of light in the otherwise pitch-black night.

We were the first, and currently only, inhabitants of the housing project. What had drawn us here, a secluded area with bushes, cacti and mysterious rock formations that sheltered birds, lizards, iguanas and other small animals, was exactly what currently repelled us. We jumped at all the unfamiliar rustling and shrieking sounds surrounding us. Suddenly, I felt my hair lifting on my nape. I instantly knew we weren’t alone with small animals anymore.

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^{Photo by John Silliman on Unsplash}