A Solution (1)

Erik could feel the eyes of dozens of people on him as he walked through the village; they were providing a silent audience to the stranger in their midst.

Their gazes were wary, cautious, and filled with unspoken questions. His presence was a disruption in their lives, an anomaly they were yet to comprehend.

A solemn stillness pervaded the atmosphere as the group descended from the tree line and moved closer to the farming fields.

Erik, who had been led there by Vanessa, found himself in the middle of an area lined with rows of tilled soil and where the villagers attempted to cultivate crops.

The plants and young trees struggling to survive in the neat rows were beginning to wither.

There were scattered groups of small vegetables growing here and there; their leafy heads bowed as if they were bearing the weight of something that couldn't be seen.