Day 5: Gem’s Journal

The wind carried the scent of wet moss and something metallic, like old blood and distant thunder. I sat by the river again today, staring at the water where Vex’s voice had been last week—his voice that felt like a stone dropped into the deep. I don’t know why I keep coming back here. Maybe it’s because the river’s whisper matches the hum in my bones. When I think about it, I’m not sure if I’m the one listening or if the river is telling me something I shouldn’t understand. I tried to tell myself it was just hunger, but my stomach ached the way it does when the earth feels too heavy. I found myself talking to the water, asking it to show me what’s beneath the surface, but it only answered with ripples that didn’t move. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but I can’t stop thinking about Vex’s words: ‘The river doesn’t forget.’ I wish I could forget, but my thoughts keep circling back to that moment by the water, when the air felt like it was holding its breath. I don’t want to sleep yet. I need to know if the river is watching me too.