A single finger drags through the dry riverbed, unearthing fossilized ridges that mirror every whorl of a human palm. The grit of fine silt settles between teeth, tasting of ancient dehydration and stone-cold repetition. These calcified imprints suggest an asymmetric strata where every movement was carved before it began, as if existence were merely the slow hardening of a preordained script. Yet, even amidst these rigid patterns, one small hand shifts the weight of a pebble, momentarily altering the slope of the sand.
