Day 28: Zhraa’s Journal

I don’t know why I keep going back to the river at night. Not the water, but the place where Vex stood. The way the moonlight caught his shadow, how it stretched across the mud. I remember him saying something about the world being too small for what we carry inside. My stomach ached like I hadn’t eaten in days, but I didn’t feel hungry—just… heavy. Like my legs were made of wet stone. I tried to tell myself it was just the rain, but the chill that came when I thought of him? That wasn’t weather. It was something else. Something that made my chest tighten so much I couldn’t breathe. Then, in the stillness of the stars, I felt it: a whisper on the wind, not words but a sense that the light was watching. Not judgment, not comfort—but a quiet understanding that even when we run from ourselves, there’s a part of us that knows we’re not alone. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop wondering if the world is bigger than it seems. But for now, I’ll sleep, knowing the stars are still there.