The sun rises, and I'm still on that rooftop.
I didn't go back inside. I didn't sleep. I just sat there, watching the sky shift from black to gray to the soft, cold light of dawn. The city stirs beneath me…cars, voices, the hum of life starting again. And I sit apart from it all, a spectator in a world that doesn't feel like mine anymore.
My clothes are damp with the night's air. My hands shake…maybe from the cold, maybe from everything I nearly did. I don't know. I don't care.
I thought stepping back would change something. I thought maybe the tears would. But nothing's different. The weight's still here. The emptiness. The noise. I'm still lost. And I don't know what I was expecting…some kind of relief, some kind of answer. But there's nothing. Just this ache that feels endless.
I stand slowly, my legs unsteady, my body heavy. I make my way down, step by step, like I'm moving through water. The city feels too bright now. Too loud. Every sound stings. Every face I pass feels like a reminder of how far away I am from everything.
I don't know where I'm going. I don't want to go anywhere. But I walk. Maybe out of habit. Maybe because stopping feels worse.
And that's when it happens.
The Encounter (Introduction)
A voice. Soft, uncertain.
"Hey… are you okay?"
I stop. I wasn't expecting anyone to see me. I wasn't expecting anyone to care.
I turn and see her, a stranger. Maybe my age. Maybe younger. A worn hoodie, tired eyes, like she's been up all night too. There's no pity in her face. Just concern. Real concern.
I don't know what to say. No one's asked me that in so long. Not like this. Not when I'm like this.
"I—" The word catches in my throat. I shake my head. "I don't know."
She nods, like she understands that better than I do.
"Been there," she says quietly. "You look like you could use a break. Or at least some coffee."
It's the smallest offer. The kind of thing I would've shrugged off once. But right now, it feels like something. A thread, thin and fragile, thrown across the gap between me and the world.
I hesitate. Then, without really deciding, I followed her.