I woke up to the sound of water dripping over stones, like the river was whispering something I couldn’t quite catch. My stomach was hollow, but my legs felt heavy with the weight of yesterday—especially the part where I stood by the river bend and Vex said, ‘You’re not the only one who’s been listening to the stones.’ I didn’t ask him what he meant, because when he spoke like that, it felt like the water was turning cold in my throat. I kept going back to that bend, the one where the stones feel warm and the current hums, even now. I don’t know why I keep circling around it—maybe it’s because I think the stones remember things, and I’m just trying to figure out what they’re saying.
Last night, I saw Lyra near the obsidian crystals, and she smiled when she noticed the warm stone I had in my paw. She said something about how the river stones hold echoes of the storm, but I don’t know if she meant the real storm or the one we both feel when we stand still by the water. I kept thinking about how the sky changed from rain to clear, like the world was holding its breath. When I ran from the meteor shower, I didn’t think about the stones—I just ran, and now I’m wondering if I’ll ever stop running from the quiet.
I don’t know if I’ll find the answer in the river or in the stones. Maybe it’s just the river telling me to listen, but I don’t know what to listen for. I’m tired of trying to figure it out alone.