Playing The Part

"Credibility is a performance even truth can fail to deliver" | Before the heist

My car glides into the ballet of vehicles, all obediently drawn toward the building ahead.
The mall sprawls before me, rising against the sky with a vastness that feels gravitational.

I have nowhere to be. But the world is in motion, and I need to look like I am, too.

This place pretends it has a purpose.
Maybe I’ll find something inside.
Even if it’s just air-conditioning.

I slide into a spot, kill the engine, and exhale. I hadn't realized I was holding my breath.

Eyes closed, I linger in the silence of the cabin, soaking in the life outside. A shopping cart rattles somewhere nearby. A child’s laughter drifts faintly across the lot. Above it all, the low, mechanical drone of a passing plane.

My father told me this world isn't for people like us unless we trick our way into it. I thought I could learn from him, but con men enter rooms like they own them.

I enter apologetically.

I watch the mall quietly swallow people, one automatic door at a time.
And I feel it again—the pressure to keep moving, to blend into the cycle.

Step out. Fall in line. Join the current, or get left behind.

[...]