🏠 The Quiet of a Broken Room
Isha hadn't left her room in two days.
She ignored the knocking. The food. The light. The mirror.
She sat in a nest of blankets, hood up, black lenses covering her shifting eyes. Her thoughts were loud enough without seeing her own reflection.
The only sound she heard was the faint thud of footsteps outside her door.
He always paused.
Then walked away.
---
👦 Aarav
Her younger brother had been watching.
At first, he thought she was just being moody.
But this?
This was different.
She wasn't just angry.
She looked… haunted.
---
⏪ Flashback: When They Were Kids
He remembered the time she broke her wrist falling off a swing. She was eleven. He was five.
She hadn't cried until the doctor left.
And when she did, she hid under the bed.
Aarav had crawled in beside her.
Offered her a chocolate bar and whispered, "You're not made of glass. You're made of stars."
She laughed through the tears.
It became their code.
> "Glass or stars?"
"Stars."
---
🛎️ Back to Now
He knocked once.
Silence.
"Still not hungry?" he asked gently.
No answer.
So he slid something under the door — not food, not a note.
A tiny drawing.
A stick figure girl in a blanket fort.
And beside her, a stick figure boy holding a giant chocolate bar with the words:
"Glass or stars?"
---
⏬ Inside the Room
Isha stared at it for a long time.
Then pulled the drawing toward her.
Folded it.
Pressed it to her chest.
---
🧃 An Attempt
Later that night, Aarav knocked again — this time, with a tray.
Two mugs of warm cocoa.
One biscuit already half-eaten, to prove it wasn't poisoned.
"I won't talk," he said through the door.
"I'll just sit outside. Okay? Like a ghost with snacks."
No reply.
But after a minute…
The door cracked open.
A hand reached out, grabbed the mug, and vanished.
He smiled and leaned against the wall.
---
⏪ Flashback: A Week Ago
They had gone to the bookstore together.
She had found a strange mythology book in a foreign language.
Aarav had blinked. "Wait — you're reading Japanese now?"
She'd shrugged. "Apparently."
He laughed. "My sister's turning into an anime protagonist."
She had rolled her eyes but didn't correct him.
He'd never forgotten that moment.
---
🌒 Back to Present
That night, he left a small speaker outside her door.
It played a soft playlist — old songs they used to dance to in the living room.
She didn't open the door.
But she didn't turn it off either.
---
🖤 Journal Entry (Unsent)
They planted a family. A script. A stage around me.
But I don't think they planted him.
Aarav doesn't look at me like the rest.
He doesn't act like them.
He forgets to play the role.
Maybe he's not perfect.
But he's real.