STUCK IN YESTERDAY'S LAUGH

In the soft light of a small lamp, Czenia looked at the cracks on her ceiling. She made them into stars of what could have been. It was late at night, 11:11 p.m. and the city outside made quiet sounds. But Czenia felt like a shadow in her own life. She kept thinking about him over and over. Zachie had a laugh that filled the room. It started deep inside and came out like happy surprises. Long ago, in the warm summer of 2017, they shared special moments, quick kisses under bright lights, silly jokes that made hard days better. "You are my tomorrow from yesterday," he said once with a big smile, as they ran after glowing bugs in a park that now seemed like a faraway dream. But old days stick like glue. They pull you back when you try to go forward. Czenia's nights were full of memories: Zachie laughing when she tried to throw oranges and dropped them all, the way his eyes smiled when she made fun of herself. She woke up with that laugh in her head, but the bed was empty. The jokes felt empty too, and the sad part hurt like old dust on her heart. She was not crazy, not all the way. Her friends said it was just missing the past. They told her to try new apps or join groups. But how do you forget a dream that feels so real? How do you smile now when yesterday's fun still hurts? Czenia closed her eyes for sleep, but dreams took her back to Zachie, to the laugh that would not go away.