The explosion stomped on her and forced all the air from her lungs. The world went from bright and sunny to gloomy in an instant. She could see things flying away from her, people, cars, trees, bits of building, even chunks of road. The force stretched her like she had been transformed into modeling clay and hands pulled on either end of her.
Then the shockwave passed and air returned. It hammered her into the pavement and crushed her breath again. Pranthi partially expected to be crushed by pieces of the bank returning to earth, but all that fell was dust.
The dust fell endlessly, coating Pranthi in a grey blanket and making her choke and sneeze. She struggled to get an arm to her face so she could breathe through the fabric of her sleeve. Each breath had to be deliberate. Her body want
