A girl and a stray dog exist in the same frame as vegetables claiming the world back. The animation doesn't move much, but it doesn't need to, it's watching decay and growth happen at the same time, and somehow that's enough to wreck you. She leaves with the dog because she understands something most films take two hours to arrive at: nothing stays, so you take what matters and go.

Carrots Don't Wait is a short animated film made by Lina Machida as her 2023 graduation work at Tokyo University of the Arts. A girl dotes on a stray dog that has wanted an apple for a long time. Around them, carrots set about turning everything into a bed for seedlings. Knowing that decay cannot be avoided, the girl opens a box and sets off with the dog. The film holds on a single moment where birth and death overlap.