Silence doesn’t last forever.

No matter how carefully you hold it.

No matter how gently you live inside it.

Eventually, something gives.

A word.

A moment.

A truth that refuses to stay buried.

The rain started just after dawn.

Soft at first.

Barely there.

A whisper against glass.

Amara woke to the sound of it tapping lightly against her window, steady and patient, like something asking to be let in.

She didn’t move immediately.

Just lay there, eyes open, listening.

Rain had always done that to her.

Slowed everything down.

Softened the edges of thoughts that usually felt too sharp to touch.

But today, it didn’t bring calm.

It brought...