Bob woke up to a beam of light settling gracefully upon his short, stubby nose. Grunting and turning this way and that, he eventually rolled off the bed with a large thump. After lying there for a few moments, Bob shook his head, got up, and walked into the bathroom to prepare himself for the day’s ordeals.
Within a few minutes, Bob appears from his room in a slightly wrinkled dress shirt and pants, both of earth-toned colors as was the current fashion in the dwarven state. Walking quickly, he nabs his keys off of the kitchen table before making a left and heading straight for the door. As he was just about to turn the handle, he hears his daughter’s voice.
“Father? Are you going to work?” The teen questions him as she stretches. Bob nods as he steps out of the house and turns around to look at his frazzled teen.
“Be safe! Good luck on your permit test, ask your mother if you need help with it.” His daughter nods at him wearily. “Sure thing dad! No worries.” She yawns loudly. Bob grins at her. “I mean, you want the car, don’t you?” he says jovially as he slowly closes the door and turns to the driveway. Bob walks towards the right side of the car and opens the door, looking at his house once more before entering the car, closing the door, and starting the engine.
As he pulls out, his daughter watches him through the door’s stained glass, whispering a quick prayer to Garthul for her father’s safety before going back to bed.
The low-rise sedan rumbled slightly as Bob drove past the houses. Soon enough, he left the suburbs and wheeled his way on to the highways towards the city of Malthur. On his way, Bob listens to classic dwarf metal. It wasn’t something most dwarves listened too, but Bob liked the music themes of the genre.
Outside, the skyline began to switch from forests, distant cities, and plain grasslands to low-lying buildings, and then high-rising buildings as his car inched forward. Bob’s vehicle soon became entrapped in the dangerously overcrowded traffic. The dwarf grunted as he passed the Human-Dwarf Memorial Park, trying to drive around the circular roundabout. Traffic is at a crawl, due to the number of people gathering around the gigantic stage set before the large stone statue, celebrating the day’s national holiday. Apparently, it was a festival of sorts. But to Bob, it was just slowing his commute. Frantically looking at his clock, Bob calms as he realizes that he’s not going to be that late to his job.
Just as he’s about to pass the massive crowd celebrating National Peace Day, he sees a figure running full tilt at the mass of people, with the city’s security forces chasing after him. The guards are shouting at the crowd to get out of the way, and are shouting for the damn man to stop now. But by the time the crowd began to react, the man had merged into the group.
The next thing Bob heard, a huge explosion ripped through the crowd, spraying blood over Bob’s window and sending bodies thumping against his car. Yelling in fear, he struggles to open the driver’s door to his car. Getting dizzy from his panic, he manages to open the door and step to his right to move away from his vehicle.
It’s only then that Bob sees a shadow fall upon him. As if in a cartoon, Bob looks up to realize that the memorial statue was about to fall on him, it’s gray steel mass collapsing towards him. Bob freezes in fear.
And it falls.