Prologue - The Last Echo
The evening was quiet.
The city lights shimmered beneath a pale sky, their glow bending against the glass balcony where Jake stood. The wind carried a soft chill, brushing through his hair like the night itself remembered him.
Behind him, on the drawer, sat a single photo frame, a younger man, a woman beside him, and the laughter of children frozen in time. He didn’t turn to look at it. Every detail of that photograph lived in him already, every smile, every heartbeat that once filled his world.
He exhaled slowly, his breath trembling in the cold.
“Time,” he whispered, “it never waits. It slips through our fingers... like a song you can’t quite remember, but still hum anyway.”
He tilted his head, watching the faint glow of distant stars.
“Life gives us fleeting joys,” he murmured. “Love, success, wealth... all of it fades. And yet, finding the right person? That’s the hardest thing of all. So rare, so precious, it changes your life when you finally do.”
His eyes softened. For a moment, he almost smiled.
“She was my calm. My fire. My silence.”
The words hung in the air, carried away by the wind.
He closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of rain lingering before the storm.
“I’ll see you soon,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “Just... wait a little longer.”
The night deepened. The wind fell still.
And Jake stood alone, a man shaped by love, loss, and everything time refused to give back.
