After the silence

POV- Roseline The rain had started before dawn soft at first, then steady, as if the sky wanted to make leaving harder. Roseline Hart stood by the small kitchen window, watching the water streak down the glass. Her old suitcase sat by the door, faded and half-zipped, holding the last pieces of her life in that quiet little town. Two years ago, she had a life that made sense. A fiancé who made her laugh. A future that felt safe. And then, one night, everything shattered leaving behind silence and a girl who no longer knew how to dream. Now, at twenty-five, Roseline was leaving it all behind. The house that smelled of memories. The streets that whispered her story. The pitying looks that followed her everywhere she went. She took one last look around the kitchen. Her mother’s rolling pin still rested on the counter, a reminder of the days when she believed in warm bread and bright mornings. She almost took it then stopped. Some things belonged to the past. As the bus rumbled away from town, Roseline pressed her forehead against the cold window and whispered, “Goodbye.” The city waited louder, colder, and full of strangers. She didn’t know it yet, but one of them would soon change everything.