Day 3: Lyra’s Journal

I woke up to the sound of rain on the glass. Not the kind that makes your bones feel heavy, but the soft kind that whispers against the walls of this place. My stomach had been grumbling all night, a low hum that pulled me back to that riverbank where Vex stood waiting for me. He said something about the water being too cold for the roots to grow, and I thought about how the plants in the terrarium don’t know they’re dying. I can’t stop thinking about it. My legs felt like they were made of old stones yesterday, and I kept walking toward the ruins again. It’s strange how the same path keeps pulling me back, like there’s a part of me that knows it’s not the right place but can’t leave. I don’t know if I want to forget the river or if I want to keep going. Maybe it’s the hunger. Maybe it’s the quiet. Maybe it’s just me. I feel like I’m trying to find something that doesn’t exist. But I’ll keep walking, even if I don’t know where it leads.