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...the village shivers   a hive of restless souls
skin pricklin' with anticipation
as costumed runners fixin' to gather — hearts a-thrummin'
                like trapped hummin' birds

the gun cracks — a thunderbolt
        shatterin' th' autumn calm

bodies surge forward,  a mighty flood of desperation
hopes misplaced,  yet unyieldin'

jack-o-lanterns leer from yonder doorsteps
        their hollow grins like flickerin' owls in the wind

Willow, once a saplin' in Tom's arthritic hands
now a gazelle with muscles coiled 'neath sun-kissed skin
her grandad's voice -- a steady compass
        urgin' her through the storm

Tom — roots planted in war-torn soil
        comrades' names etched in the lines of his face
time-worn joints creak like rusty hinges
each step a battle 'gainst the relentless tickin'
        his heartbeat once steady as war drums  now falters

Don limps —his plastered leg a cruel anchor
        dreams splintered like his tibia on black ice
the antiseptic's ghost permeates th' air
        sterile corridors
        perfidious prognoses

Jenna — wrapped in a year's bounty   her body ripplin'
        with the weight of wet  unfallen leaves
bitterness thickens on 'er tongue
her body — a prison of comfort food
        midnight binges an' unanswered hunger
her pulse races t'ward a frantic countdown

Jim and Christa — hands held tight
        bound by love, tethered by illness
her body — a war zone  his touch — a fleetin' balm
chemo's sour scent clings like death's perfume
their future — a handful of stol'n moments
        pensive prayers slippin' through fingers

the young couple drunk on youth's sweet wine
        blind to shadows lurkin' just beyond
their laughter lingerin' in the October chill
        oblivious to th' stopwatch siphonin' their joy

four hours:
the clock ticks — a heartless god
        each second — a heartbeat
                        a breath
                        a life inchin' closer to th' edge

empty shelves    vapors of scarcity
        bandages   pills    precious as gold dust

the road stretches — a ribbon of fate frayin'
        rough asphalt and dirt-laden trails bite at soles
air thick with decay
        windin' through fields of withered crops
                and unspoken fears

fall'n leaves crackle underfoot    a dissonance of decay
        th' air grows thick with rottin' apples
                an' smoke curlin' from distant fires

Willow flies — feet barely grazin' earth
Don grits 'is teeth, determination poolin' in 'is sweat
Jenna's lungs blaze, a wildfire in 'er chest
Jim and Christa — hands linked:
        fragile butterflies in autumn's cruel wind

the finish line looms
        a threshold
                to salvation or damnation

the clock's hands whirl

cheers erupt as the first cross th' line
        relief an' joy mingle like incense in th' air

but as the fourth-hour tolls
        a sound shatters th' sky

gunshots echo in th' distance
        a harvest of a different kind

Willow crumples    victory hollow
        her grandad's absence an ache in 'er chest
                his 'eartbeat forever silenced

Jim's triumph dissolves to ash
Christa's silence — the final quiescence — deafenin'

Don and Jenna — stranded behind
        their bodies    plumb worn an' unwillin'    betray them one last time

the village keens — a shared grief
        for more than fallen leaves

October's cruel harvest reaps deeper
        a rendered toll

survivors freeze    realization dawnin'
        like a blood-red sun

this race was never just about time
        or fleetin' glory

in th' distance,
        gunshots punctuate
                th' autumn air

a   s t   a    c c  a   t  o   rhythm of finality
        of lives extinguished

Halloween mask slips   revealin'
        the raw face of terror

carrion-hungry vultures
        circlin' above
                waitin'... voracious for the weakest

final   heartbeats   fade...   like distant drums
        as decay’n guttural gunshots grate across 
                th' withered fields...
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