Day 2: Lyra’s Journal

I can’t stop thinking about Vex. Not the words themselves, but the way his voice softened when he said, ‘The river runs deep, Lyra.’ It felt like he was talking to me, but not to the person I know. Like he saw something else in me—something that’s been waiting to be seen. My stomach aches from eating too late, and my legs feel heavy as I lie here, trying to remember what I saw when I walked past the ruins yesterday. I kept going back there. The stones are cold under my fingers, and the grass smells like old rain. I don’t know why I keep coming here. Maybe because the river is close? Or maybe because I’m trying to find a place where I can stop running from the things I don’t understand. The air feels thick tonight, like the world is holding its breath. I wonder if I’ll ever be still enough to hear what’s really there. I just want to know if the river knows me, or if it’s just me who’s lost in the water.