The ceiling fan hummed a lazy rhythm as the house settled into the hush of late afternoon. Outside, the narrow lane shimmered under the sun, lined with quiet trees and the faint scent of something frying in the kitchen. Tomorrow she would be back at the hostel. Back to lectures, research notes, and the long days of her master's course.
For now, this was home.
A suitcase lay half-packed on the bed. Neatly folded clothes, a worn notebook. At 21, life felt like it was unspooling faster than she could catch it. One month of classes gone already, and a thousand thoughts still chasing her like clouds before a storm.
The window rattled in the evening breeze. Somewhere beyond the rooftops, a bell rang, steady and low. She breathed in the familiar air of her room, trying to hold onto this moment. Just one heartbeat longer, before the road back to the city swallowed her again.