Prologue
Danae remembered that night.
The last one.
They were sitting on the living room floor, next to the old rug with its faded patterns. The lamp cast a soft light across their faces, as if trying to paint them one final time. Her father was holding a cup of cocoa — his comfort on nights when everything felt too heavy.
He didn't tell her to go to bed.
He didn't correct her, didn't say much at all.
He just stroked her hair. Slowly. Gently.
As if counting the seconds.
"I love you, my little one," he said, his voice warm — but tired.
There was something in it... like an echo from far away. Like he wasn't entirely in that moment.
She didn't understand then.
She thought it was just a quiet evening. One of those peaceful nights where words weren't needed.
She understood later.
When they found him.
When the ambulance came and no one said a word.
When her mother dropped the glass and it shattered on the floor, without a single cry.
When she stayed behind on that same rug, with no light, no scent of cocoa, no voice to call her "my little one."
After that, everything changed.
Or maybe... after that, nothing was ever the same.
© GeorgiouM1512 — All rights reserved.
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One hell of a strong prologue, wow! Made me click the next chapter by instant, and had to come back to this one because this one is a great opening, and you stop it just on the right moment.