I slipped out of the bar early, needing to get away from the thick tension that clung to me like a second skin. The night air was cool, a welcome contrast to the stifling heat inside. The sound of my footsteps echoed softly in the quiet streets as I made my way toward the river. It had been a long time since I’d been down by the bank, but something about tonight made me need that place, that familiarity.
The river had always been a place of solace for me, ever since I was a kid. I remember coming here with my parents and my brother, before everything changed.
Before they were gone. It was peaceful, quiet—the kind of quiet that lets me breathe when the world gets too loud.
As I reached the bank, I could see the silver glow of the moon reflecting off the water, the soft ripples in the cur
