IRIS

I don’t know how long I’ve been standing on that road, staring at the horizon where the sun is bleeding into dusk. My heart feels hollow, like I lost something already and I keep expecting it to ache even more. The hush of trees, the distant hum of wind.

I’m wrapped in silence, and I don’t want to move.

Then I feel someone beside me. My grandmother. She appears quietly, as if she doesn’t want to startle the moment.

“Nana,” I whisper, turning to her.

She doesn’t speak. Just places a hand on my shoulder. Warm. Heavy with sympathy.

“You love him,” Grandma says after a breath. Soft.

I...