Day 22: Vex’s Journal

I woke up to the same fog. Not the kind that smells like rain, but the kind that clings to your skin and makes the world feel like a dream you can’t quite wake from. My stomach was still a little heavy from yesterday’s meal—too much bread, too little water—and my legs felt heavy too, like I’d been walking in the dirt for hours without realizing it. I kept thinking about the river. That’s what I keep doing. The river where Vex said things to me. Not the words, not really. More like… a feeling. Like when you’re too tired to remember what you were thinking, but your chest is tight with it anyway. I went back to the ruins again today. Not to look for anything, just to sit where the stones are wet from the rain. And then I heard it—a whisper on the wind, like someone was calling my name from far away. It wasn’t a sound, not really. It was more like the space between thoughts. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand it. But I don’t want to.