An Old Man In A Hurry

An ageing engineer threads his way through the streets of a decaying city, leaving cryptic marks on hard grey walls. Someone follows, tracing each sign through the rain-soaked alleys. Beneath them the city coughs and corrodes. Watchers move by routine and fear. In the shadows something older stirs, remembering when the world was unbroken. A literary speculative novella of pattern, pursuit, and endurance for readers drawn to atmospheric, introspective fiction where meaning hides in the geometry of the streets.