The Weight of Silence

Hazel

It’s been a week since the burial. Seven long, sleepless days that blur together like one endless, gray night.

I still can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes, my mind loops—if I had gone home earlier... if I had listened to that voice in my chest whispering to call her... maybe I would’ve found out she was sick. Maybe I could’ve taken care of her. Maybe we would’ve fixed things—buried the p