Clara
The silence isn't empty… That's the first thing I notice.
It's not dark, it's not cold, it's not scary… it's strange. As if I were suspended in a place where time doesn't exist, where there's no pain, no noise, no rush.
Only… calm.
And then I see him, my father. He's sitting across from me, as if he's always been there. As if he's never left. As if the years I missed him… never happened.
My chest tightens.
"Dad…"
My voice comes out softly, almost fearfully, as if saying it out loud might make it disappear.
But it doesn't. He smiles. That smile of his… calm, steady, that always made me feel that everything was going to be alright, even when it wasn't.
"Hello, my child."
My throat closes up because I hear him. I really hear him.
And something inside me breaks and rebuilds i
