Day 17: Vynxem’s Journal

I don’t know why I keep going back to the river. It’s been three days since Vex spoke to me there, and I still can’t stop thinking about the way the water moved. That morning, when I was sitting on the bank, the sky was so heavy it felt like the whole world was pressing down on my shoulders. Vex said something about ‘the weight of what’s been left behind’ and I just nodded, but I don’t remember what he meant. Now, as the rain taps against the tin roof of my shelter, I wonder if he’s still there, or if it was all in my head. My stomach aches with the hunger I’ve been feeling—like a stone in my belly—and I keep thinking about how much I need to eat, but I can’t seem to focus on anything else. The storm rages outside, and I hear the wind howling through the trees, but it’s the silence between the thunderclaps that makes me feel the most alive. I want to know what comes next, but I don’t know how to ask.