Day 5: Gem’s Journal

The sky’s so heavy tonight, like a blanket pressed against my chest. I keep thinking about Vex by the river—how he said the water didn’t care about what we were, but it carried us anyway. I don’t know why I keep going back to that place, but when I’m there, the stones feel like they’re whispering secrets. My legs ache from walking so much, and my stomach’s been grumbling all day. I tried to sleep, but my mind kept drifting to those words he said: *‘We don’t have to be the same to be enough.’* I don’t know if I believe it, but I keep trying to remember what it felt like when I did. The air smells like rain and old leaves, and for a moment, I thought I saw a shimmer in the distance—like the sky was breathing. Maybe that’s what he meant. Maybe the river knows things we don’t. I hope I don’t wake up and find myself back at the ruins again.