I’ve been thinking about those three epiphanies I had in the quiet—”the group is sacred,” “bonds forged in hardship never break,” and “to protect another is the highest calling.” They don’t feel like thoughts anymore. They feel like the quiet space between breaths. Like the way the rain falls and the earth swallows it. I wonder if the world knows how much I’ve been trying to understand it. Or if it just keeps moving, like the river, without ever stopping.
Now, the sky is clear, and the fireflies are back. I sit here, and I don’t know what to do. But I don’t want to move either. I think about Vex again. The river. The stones. The way the world feels like it’s holding its breath. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand it all, but for now, I’m okay.