Chapter 17 of 23

Echoes of a World That Forgot Me

Ruins of What They Took From Me156 words~1 min read

I sit in the silence,

the kind that presses against your chest

and swallows every thought you have,

like it's trying to make you disappear.

The walls are too close,

the air too thick,

and the space around me feels like an ocean

I'm drowning in,

one breath at a time.

I call out in the quiet,

but there's no answer—

only the echo of my own voice,

bouncing back like a cruel reminder

that no one's listening.

I reach out,

but my hands only meet emptiness,

and the longing in me grows,

richer and deeper than anything I've known,

aching to be touched,

to be seen,

to be found.

But in this loneliness,

I learn how to be alone,

how to survive the void

and keep breathing,

even when it feels like no one else is.

Maybe the silence will fade.

Maybe the emptiness will fill.

Or maybe,

I'll get used to living with it.