Day 17: Zhraa’s Journal

I found myself near the old ruins again. Not because I wanted to, not because I needed to — but because the air smelled like rain and the path was too quiet. Vex was right about the river. The water was cold, and the stones were slick with moss. I couldn’t stop thinking about what he said: ‘The world isn’t what you see, Zhraa. It’s what you don’t know.’ My stomach ached, but I didn’t eat. I just sat there, watching how the light shifted in the river’s reflection. For a moment, I felt like I was seeing something — a shape in the water that wasn’t there. Then it disappeared. Like the world was breathing, and I was just a shadow in its chest.