The past did not return all at once.
It arrived in fragments.
In moments that slipped through the cracks of daily life—while folding laundry, while driving familiar roads, while watching Layla sleep with her mouth slightly open, dreaming of a world still kind to her.
For Lala and Daniel, memory became a mirror.
And what they saw startled them.
Daniel: Who He Was
Daniel remembered Michelle in colors that felt too bright now.
They had loved each other loudly—arguments like storms, affection like fire. Michelle had challenged him, pushed him, demanded more than he knew how to give. Back then, Daniel had mistaken intensity for depth.
They stayed up late talking about dreams neither had mapped out. They loved the idea of becoming more than the people they were—but resented the effort re
