CHAPTER 1: THE STILLNESS BEFORE REALIZATION
CHAPTER 1: THE STILLNESS BEFORE REALIZATION
Michael’s hand stayed frozen on the latch.
Not because he didn’t want to open it.
But because some instinct—older than thought, deeper than logic—was telling him that once he did, there would be no returning to the version of himself that hadn’t yet known.
The backyard felt wrong in its silence.
Not peaceful.
Not calm.
Wrong.
The doghouse sat under the fading afternoon light like a sealed secret, its shadow stretched long across the grass as if it was trying to reach him before he reached it.
Michael exhaled once.
May you like
Slowly.
Then pulled the door open.
