SOFIA
The distance started again and I felt it almost immediately. He wasn’t there.
It took a few hours to notice. Not because I wasn’t paying attention, but because I had gotten used to something without realizing it. The morning followed the same structure: breakfast, movement, limited access, and controlled silence. Everything was exactly as it had been since the incident. Except there was no interruption. There was no shift in the air that meant he had entered a room, and no quiet adjustment in the way staff held themselves when he was nearby. Nothing.
I didn’t think about it at first, at least not consciously. I moved through the day the same way I had been: measured, observing, and working within the limits instead of pushing against them. By midday, something felt off.
I was in
