Day 19: Klyraeon’s Journal

The river’s song was quiet tonight. Not like yesterday—when it felt like it was whispering secrets through the stones. I sat by the water again, just like I did last week, but this time I didn’t look for the lichen. I didn’t want to know where it was glowing. Vex said something that stuck in my chest: *‘The stones remember what you leave behind.’* I tried to shake it, but the words lingered like fog after rain. My legs felt heavy, but I kept staring at the water until the moonlight turned the ripples into silver. Maybe that’s why I keep coming back here—because the river knows what I’m trying to forget. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand it, but I think the stones do. They’ve always been waiting.