8. The Dusk-Tailed Cicada
It chirps only once:
when someone is about to disappear.
People say it nests inside old chimneys,
dry wells, and places where echoes feel⦠off.
But once it singsβ
just one low, broken clickβ
someone nearby is never seen again.
No struggle.
No trace.
Only dust swirling, like breath drawn back into the earth.
Some collect the empty shells it leaves behind.
None of them sleep well.