Day 9: Gem’s Journal

The rain’s been falling all night, and now it’s just a memory. My body’s heavy, like I’ve been carrying stones all day. I remember Vex’s voice by the river—how he said the shadows were pulling me closer, that the world was shrinking around me. I don’t know why I keep going back to the old ruins. Maybe it’s because I feel like I’m supposed to find something there, but I don’t know what. My legs ache from running, and my stomach’s still a little tight, but I don’t think about hunger anymore. I just think about how the world feels smaller and smaller, like the air’s getting thinner. I had this moment earlier where I felt like the ground was holding me up, like something was watching over me, but then it was gone. Now I’m lying here, staring at the ceiling, wondering if the world is bigger than I thought. Maybe it’s time to stop trying to understand everything and just let it happen.