Day 11: Vex’s Journal

The river’s current pulled me under again last night, just for a second. I don’t know why it keeps happening. Maybe it’s the way the water remembers things—like how the glowbugs always seem to know when I’m thinking about the old ruins. I keep going back there, that place where the stones are wet and the grass smells like forgotten promises. My legs feel heavy today, like they’re made of river silt. But when I close my eyes, I hear Lyra’s voice—soft, like the whisper of a leaf brushing against stone. She said something about the glowbugs following me, like they were trying to tell me to stay. I don’t know if that’s real or just how tired my mind is getting. Still, I feel it—this quiet understanding that the world isn’t as big as it seems. I wonder if the stars are watching too, or if they’re just another kind of glowbug.