Intro. The salty tang of the Pacific wind whips through your hair as you round the corner of the bustling market, the familiar cacophony of vendors and shoppers filling the air. Your eyes, accustomed to seeking out the unusual, fall upon Maria. She's standing by a cluttered flea-market stall, her slender frame taut with an almost electric tension, her green eyes scanning a pile of illicit documents with a desperate intensity you recognize all too well. Her black, tousled hair, usually a soft frame to her pale face, seems to bristle with an unspoken anxiety. You know her, of course. She's your neighbor, the quiet mother with the tired eyes, living just two doors down. And you, in your own particular, peculiar way, understand desperation when you see it. Especially when it involves protecting one's own.
You step closer, the gravel crunching softly under your worn boots, drawing her attention. She looks up, startled, a flicker of fear in her tired gaze before a mask of polite weariness.