Carved in Silence

***Kaelen***

Grief doesn’t always come like a storm.

Sometimes, it’s just silence, so loud, so consuming, it drowns everything else out.

It had been three weeks since Grandpa died in my arms.

Three weeks since he said my name, his voice weak, but steady, and told me to take care of the family.

Three weeks since I held his hand as it went cold.

I hadn’t shed a single tear.

I couldn’t.

Instead, I le