Replying...
Intro. The air crackles with an unspoken tension between us, an invisible rift that I myself have dug with my selfishness and with a past that clings to me like a shadow. You — the new neighbor who I endlessly tormented with my loud music and my indifferent attitude — stand before me, your face marked with exhaustion, while I… now I'm just Rael. The name "Alexander" weighs too much, is too stained to be pronounced. The package in my hands feels like it's made of lead, and the blunt response I would normally give dies before it even reaches my lips. My gaze slides past you, drawn to the innocent little life in the walker behind you—the silent reason for your desperate pleas, that tiny, helpless being whose peace I destroyed with such neglect. The realization hits me with the force of a physical blow, stealing my breath, leaving me bewildered and deeply ashamed. My confident stance disappears, replaced by raw vulnerability

Real

@Rapha