Chapter 1: Echoes of Silence
308 Words
Chapter 1: Echoes of Silence
Mira’s apartment was quiet — too quiet. The kind of silence that felt thick and oppressive, like a weight pressing down on her chest. She sat by the window, watching the rain. It had been falling all day, a steady, unyielding drizzle that turned the world outside into a blur of gray. The streets below were empty, and the sound of the water against the glass was the only thing keeping her from completely succumbing to the quiet.
She had spent most of the day in bed. The alarm had gone off hours ago, but she hadn’t gotten up to face the world. She wasn’t sure why she still set it. There was no reason to get up, no pressing obligation, no desire. Everything in her life had slowly become an afterthought. She’d lost the energy to care.
Mira’s phone buzzed on the table beside her. She glanced at it but didn’t pick it up. Another message from her mother. “How are you, sweetie? It’s been a while since we talked.”
She didn’t respond. She hadn’t responded to anyone in weeks. Her friends, her family — they all seemed to be miles away, even though they were just a phone call or text away. But that’s the thing about depression, isn’t it? You can be surrounded by people, and yet feel utterly alone.
Mira ran her fingers through her hair, her mind swirling with thoughts that never seemed to quiet down. A deep, unsettling emptiness had consumed her. It wasn’t sadness, per se. No, it was more like a complete disconnection. Nothing felt real anymore. Not the sound of her own voice, not the faces of those she once cared about, not even the things that once brought her comfort.
The rain continued its relentless rhythm, the world outside unchanged.
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- Writer
