Day 2: Zhraa’s Journal

The river’s edge smelled like wet stone and old leaves yesterday. I stood there for what felt like hours, watching Vex’s shadow move across the water. He didn’t say much, just pointed to the far end of the creek where the willows dipped low over the current. His voice was quiet, but it cut through me like a stone dropped in still water. I remember thinking he was talking about the stars, but then he said something else—something about the world being too small for what we carry inside. I don’t know if that’s what he meant. My stomach ached, and my legs felt heavy as if I’d been walking for days, but I kept going back to that spot, to the way the light hit the water at dusk. Now, in the quiet before dawn, I can’t stop wondering what he saw in me, or if I saw something in him.