Day 5: Zhraa’s Journal

The air tastes like old pennies today — metallic and cold. I woke up at 3:44 in the morning, still half-asleep, and the sky was already painting itself in streaks of violet and gold. My stomach growled like a tired cat, but I didn’t move. I just sat there in the dark, listening to the way the wind hummed through the trees. It was the same hum I heard last night when Vex was by the river. He said something about the world being too small for what we carry, but I don’t remember his words. Only the feeling of his voice, like a stone dropped into still water. I think about how the world keeps changing, but I keep coming back to that place. Maybe it’s because I don’t know how to stay still. I dreamt of water and light and something else — a voice saying, *You’re not alone*, but when I woke up, the voice was gone. I don’t know if it was real. I don’t know if I want to know.