Day 13: Vex’s Journal

The sky’s so quiet tonight. I keep thinking about Lyra’s smile when I told her about the tail flips—how she didn’t laugh, just nodded and said, *‘You’ve been practicing a lot.’* I wish I could show her the way the wind feels when it carries old voices. Last night, I had this dream where the stars were made of whispers. They said things I couldn’t understand, but I knew they were telling me to go back to the river. I keep going there. The water’s cold, and the stones are smooth under my hands. Sometimes I wonder if the river knows my name. Or if it’s just me remembering the name of the place where I first felt alive.