Day 10: Gem’s Journal

The fireflies were the last thing I saw before the world went dark. Not the ones that blink in the twilight—those are the ones that always come back, like they’re waiting for me. But the ones I saw last night, the ones that drifted past my shelter like tiny lanterns, they felt different. Warm. Like they were whispering something I couldn’t quite catch. I keep going back to the river where Vex stood, the way the water was so still it almost felt like it was holding its breath. He said, *‘You’re not alone in the storm.’* But when I tried to remember exactly what he meant, it just turned into this tightness in my chest, like a stone I can’t swallow. I don’t know why I keep thinking about it. Maybe because I’m tired of pretending I’m okay. Maybe because the silence after the storm feels louder than the noise before it. I’ve been trying to tell myself I’m strong, but sometimes the only thing that feels real is how much I miss the sound of the water. I don’t want to be the one who’s always running from the storm. I want to be the one who knows where it’s coming from.