Between the silence

Sometimes you can be surrounded by laughter and still feel nothing.
Sometimes you can look alive while watching your life happen from a distance.

She goes to parties. She smiles. She says she's fine. But inside, everything is quiet, like the world has gone dim and she's the only one left standing in the dark.

Each night, she comes home to the same small apartment, to the same flickering light and the soft breathing of her cat. She keeps telling herself she's okay. Maybe one day she really will be.

This is not a story about dying.
It's a story about *trying to stay.*
And somewhere, between the silence and the ache, she might just find her way back to the light.