Stilling the Storm

Suddenly, she couldn’t bear to look at it anymore.

She placed the phone face-down on the bedside table, pushing it away like it was something too fragile to hold.

Curling beneath the covers, her heart continued its frantic rhythm in the dark, echoing louder than any words.

Then—her phone lit up once.

She snatched it, breath held.

Kira: I’m home!

Lyra groaned softly into her pillow, the quie