52. Fractured hope

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 06:25:33 +0000

The constant jostling woke me. At first, I thought my head was rolling against something hard. Then I realized it was the car—swaying, tires humming beneath me. I started counting. One. Two. Three. Every bump, every turn, every lurch. Maybe to stop myself from screaming, maybe to prove I still existed. But the numbers tangled and slipped away. My skull ached like someone had driven a spike through it.