Kira pressed her forehead against the cool glass. The city pulsed with neon pink and blue below. She felt very small.
The young anime girl ducked into a quiet alley. She pulled out her charcoal pencil, but her hands shook. 'I can't draw like this,' she thought.
A stray cat leaped onto a dumpster. A paint can rolled with a loud clatter right next to her shoe. The cat batted at it, and she giggled.
She dipped her pencil into the spilled blue ink. Wobbly lines appeared on her paper. 'Maybe the city just needs to smile,' she thought.
She drew silly sunglasses on the buildings. The ink shone under the streetlamp. 'There,' she whispered. 'Much better.'
A street drummer tapped his beat, watching her. He mimicked her wobbly line with a boom-boom-clap rhythm. Kira looked up, surprised.
Her eyes went wide as she quickly sketched the drummer. The music swelled. She stood up straighter, no longer hiding in her hoodie.
Kira walked back to the main street. She taped her drawing to a lamppost. People stopped and smiled at the silly bright sketch.