CARMEN
The moment the door shut behind us and the forest swallowed us up, everything felt louder.
Not in sound—but in feeling.
The air touched my skin in a new way. Each step on leaves and sticks felt sharper, clearer, like my senses were waking up. I took a slow breath, and even that felt odd—like I could taste the earth and trees, something wild and old filling my lungs.
I didn’t like how much I noticed, or maybe I didn’t like how right it felt.
Tim’s hand stayed locked with mine, steady as ever, his presence the only thing keeping me from drifting too far into whatever this was. I squeezed once, just to remind myself he was real.
“I feel weird,” I admitted quietly.
“Good weird or bad weird?” he asked, glancing down at me.
I hesitated. “I don’t know yet.”
LuLu led us deeper befo
