I went alone.
Midnight thoughts kept rolling through my head. That talk with Daniel dragged on past seven, looping the same worries, never landing anywhere solid. Jayce's words just stayed there, unclaimed, like a note left open on a table. Lucas kept showing up, quiet but steady, each visit adding weight I hadn't asked for. The festival came into view when I wasn't looking. So I stepped toward it alone.
Frozen by choice. Silence fills the room instead of answers. My own mind blocks every path forward.
A sudden hush fell over the open field as sunlight dipped low. Tents stood scattered like dropped handkerchiefs, bright against the green. Music floated from speakers by the steps, uneven but warm. Near a twisted column of rusted steel, people paused - drawn by shape more than color. Those were Lucas's works: jagged forms welded into quiet giants, their edges glowing where light hit just right.
