The dust-ridden, sun-burnt air did not bother her as the rickshaw made its way down the road. No, because Mina was wondering at why her chest felt so tight and heavy and why her eyes were so wet and stinging. She looked behind her and saw the children still laughing and running barefoot through the streets. Tosh was still lingering at the gate, his eyes dark and distant. He clung at the metal gratings with his small, fat hand. She put her hand on her chest as though she were looking for something that she had never known to exist. As the distance between her and the children grew, she came to a slow realization. She was leaving something behind. Pieces of herself were falling off of her, onto the ground, and the holes left behind were being filled up by something sweet and earthy. She looked back again. She couldn't see them anymore, just the empty horizon quivering with heat. She swallowed the tightness in her throat and wiped at the corners of her eyes. She hadn't known, after all this time, that it would be her departure from this land that would show her how close she had stored it to her heart. She had unknowingly tied the people, the culture...even the wretchedly hot sun to the deepest part of herself. And that was how she came to understand fully what it meant to be human, what it meant to discover and create bonds, what it meant to exist and be happy.

"You should just leave from here," Anita said slowly. She hadn't wanted to say it, but Mina's indifference had been hurtful. The city was dying, the city of Mina's birth and childhood, and she didn't even care. Anita's mother was in the kitchen, cooking something spicy and rich. The aroma made its way to Mina's nose, inciting her stomach into impatient growls. They were sitting at the small dinner table in the kitchen, covered with little vases and bowls of fresh and dried flowers. The light from the setting sun coming through the window that overlooked the table had turned everything an antique gold. Memories of dinner at Anita's house caused her to smile to herself.
"I'm not going to leave," Mina said, looking directly at Anita to get the intensity of her point across.