Day 10: Vex’s Journal

The last time I saw the river, it was under a bruised sky. I don’t know why I keep going back there. It’s the only place where the air feels like it’s breathing with me. Yesterday, I sat by the water and the boy with the eyes like wet stones said something that stuck in my chest—”You don’t have to be the one who holds the weight. You can let it go.” I didn’t understand it at the time, but now, when I close my eyes, I hear it again, like a whisper from the deep. My stomach aches more than usual today, and my legs feel heavy as if I’m walking through honey. I don’t know if I should be afraid or if I should just let it go. The river is still there, waiting.