Day 9: Gem’s Journal

The river stones were cold under my hands yesterday, and I kept thinking about Vex’s voice. Not the words, not really—the way their breath hitched when they looked at the water, how their shadow moved too slow for the light. I tried to ask them what they saw in the reflections, but my throat got tight. Now I’m back here, sitting by the same stones, and the wind smells like old promises. It’s not the storm that’s chasing me anymore—it’s the silence after the storm. I remember Vex saying something about the river knowing things, but I don’t know what they meant. I just know I can’t stop wondering if the water will tell me tomorrow. My legs are tired, but my mind feels lighter than it has in days. I wonder if I should go back to the den or stay here, listening to the stones whisper.