The first soft rays of morning slipped through the window blinds in Elena’s room, threading themselves between the folds of her curtains and casting delicate golden stripes across her bed. The warmth was gentle, the kind that nudged instead of disturbed. It brushed across her cheek, warming her skin just enough to stir her from the depths of sleep she had fought so hard to reach the night before. Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open. For a moment she lay still, staring at the brightening ceiling, neither fully awake nor truly asleep, suspended in a fragile peace she wished could last a little longer.
Her body ached pleasantly from exhaustion. The week had been long—emotionally and physically draining—and for the first time in days, she had allowed herself to drift into a deep, comforting sl
