It never stops listening
For Your Own Good
They'd set the table before I even walked in.
AuntNo one's angry with you, sweetheart. We're only worried.
AuntYou've been so alone with all of this.
I'd said one true thing out loud. Once. Now the whole village was sitting in our kitchen.
NeighbourI saw Emil that last morning. Gave my flashlight back at the gate. Happy as anything, on his way out.
NeighbourOrdinary day.
EmilI'll be home before dark, Liv. Promise.
He never came home before dark. But he was happy that morning. That part is true.
AuntIt's for your own good. Just until you're feeling better.
Neighbour… even the man who keeps to the edge came into the shop this week. Everyone's shaken.
And for a second, I believed them. That was the worst part.
I stopped trying to make them believe me. Mid-sentence, I just … stopped.
I'll prove it to myself. And I already know where I start.