Thelma POV
We headed back to the car, and as Charlie pulled onto the road, a strange heaviness settled in my chest. I didn’t want to leave not yet.
There was something about the place we had just come from, something quiet and grounding, as though it had reached into parts of me I rarely allowed myself to feel. I held the small cage carefully in my hands, resting it on my lap as the car bounced gently over the uneven road.
The countryside stretched endlessly ahead of us, lush and green, untouched by the chaos and rush I had grown accustomed to back in town. Tall trees stood proudly on both sides of the road, their leaves whispering softly whenever the wind passed through them.
From time to time, people waved as we drove past-men, women, children and their smiles were so genuine it fe
