From the day
Perspective: The Anxious Local · Tactile
The crowd at the mall is a suffocating sea of scratchy denim and cheap chiffon, and my palms are sweating against the cold plastic of this *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* action figure I can barely afford. Bread is up to a dollar twelve, gas is draining my wallet, and now everyone is acting like the whole "scene" is to trample each other for a new Xbox. I pull my oversized sunglasses down to hide my eyes, feeling smaller as people in heavy Ugg boots kick at my heels in the ticket line. The world feels loud and expensive, and all I want is to retreat into the dark theater before I lose my nerve entirely.