Chapter 1 - The Last Words
The wind was quiet.
Not still—just quiet enough to hear everything else.
The shifting of shoes against dry grass.
The low murmurs of voices trying not to break.
The distant rustle of fabric moving with bodies that didn’t know where to stand.
The sound of something ending.
Ahanu stood still.
He didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
Didn’t even look at the people around him.
Because if he did—
this would become real.
The sky above was pale, stretched thin across the horizon like it didn’t want to be there either.
Like it had nothing left to give.
Everything felt… distant.
Muted.
Like the world had taken a step back and left him alone inside it.
Like he wasn’t fully inside the moment.
Like he was watching it from somewhere else—
somewhere safer.
A voice spoke.
Soft.
Careful.
Measured words, chosen slowly, as if they might break if handled wrong.
Words meant to comfort.
Words meant to hold things together.
But Ahanu didn’t hear them.
Not really.
They passed through him the same way everything else did—
unnoticed.
Unfelt.
Because all he could focus on—
was the box in front of him.
Still.
Silent.
Final.
Too small.
That was the thought he didn’t want to have.
Too small to hold everything that used to exist.
Too small to carry a voice.
A presence.
A life that once filled entire rooms.
He clenched his hands slightly.
Not enough for anyone to notice.
Just enough to feel something.
Anything.
The pressure in his palms grounded him for a second—
then slipped away again.
This wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
Not now.
Not yet.
There was supposed to be more time.
More chances.
More space to fix what had been left unfinished.
He swallowed hard.
His throat dry.
His chest tight.
But no tears came.
Not because he didn’t feel anything—
but because he felt too much.
It sat inside him all at once.
Too heavy to move.
Too full to release.
He thought about the last time they spoke.
The room.
The distance between them.
The argument that didn’t feel like one until it was already over.
The silence that followed.
The way he walked away—
like there would be another moment to come back to it.
To say something different.
Something better.
The things he didn’t say.
The things he thought he had time to say later.
A sharp breath escaped him.
Almost unnoticed.
Almost controlled.
But not completely.
Too late.
The word echoed in his mind.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Too late.
It didn’t fade.
Didn’t soften.
It stayed sharp—
cutting through everything else.
Someone stepped closer to him.
He felt it before he saw it.
A presence.
Careful.
Hesitant.
A hand rested on his shoulder.
Heavy.
Grounding.
Real.
But he didn’t react.
Didn’t turn.
Didn’t acknowledge it.
Because in that moment—
nothing felt real except the weight inside his chest.
And the realization that something was gone.
Not just physically.
But completely.
Gone in a way that didn’t leave anything behind to hold onto.
No voice.
No response.
No second chance.
Ahanu finally looked up.
Just for a second.
The sky.
Too wide.
Too empty.
The people.
Blurry.
Distant.
Not fully there.
The place.
Familiar—
but wrong now.
Like it had changed without moving.
Then back to the box.
Because that was the only thing that made sense.
The only thing that stayed in focus.
And for the first time—
a single thought broke through everything else.
Clear.
Unavoidable.
He didn’t understand him.
Not when it mattered.
Not when he had the chance.
He thought about the words that had been said.
The ones that weren’t.
The ones that almost were—
but never made it out.
And now—
he never would.
The wind moved again.
Soft.
Barely there.
Unnoticed by everyone else.
But Ahanu felt it.
It brushed past him—
light.
Cold.
Gone in a second.
And somehow—
it felt like the only thing still alive in that moment.
The only thing that hadn’t stopped.
That hadn’t ended.
He stood there—
silent.
Unmoving.
Caught between what was—
and what used to be.
Between the moment he was in—
and the one he kept replaying in his mind.
The one he wished he could go back to.
Change.
Fix.
Stay in longer.
Say something different.
Anything different.
But time didn’t move that way.
It never did.
And now—
there was nothing left to change.
Nothing left to say.
As everything he hadn’t said—
every word he held back—
every moment he walked away from—
stayed buried with him.
