Dinner time.
The table was full.
Voices, laughter, small talks… everything felt normal from the outside.
But inside me, something was already unstable… like a glass about to crack.
I was sitting there, quietly, trying to act normal.
Trying to look like I belonged in that moment.
And then my eyes went to her.
Ella.
She was sitting there… smiling, talking, laughing softly.
She looked… different tonight.
Not just beautiful.
Something more than that.
Something I didn't want to define, because defining it would make it real… and I wasn't ready for that.
Her hair slightly falling on her face, the way she tucked it behind her ear… the way her eyes moved while she listened… everything felt slow to me.
Like time had decided to focus only on her.
And I…
I was just watching.
Again.
Like I had no control over my own attention.
---
Then suddenly—
her mother spoke.
Calmly.
Casually.
Like she was saying something normal.
"We are thinking to get Ella married soon."
---
That one sentence…
It didn't hit me immediately.
At first, it just passed through my ears.
Like any normal sound.
But then—
something inside me stopped.
---
"I have a friend," her mother continued, smiling. "He is very rich. He has his own company… private jets… a very good life."
Everyone at the table reacted normally.
Some smiled.
Some nodded.
Some asked small questions.
But I…
I didn't react.
---
Because I couldn't.
---
My mind stopped.
Not slowed down.
Stopped.
---
The air in the room suddenly felt heavy.
Like it had weight.
Like it was pressing against my chest.
My ears felt blocked.
Voices were still there…
but I couldn't hear them clearly.
Everything turned distant.
Blurred.
Like I was sitting there physically… but not mentally.
---
I looked at her.
Ella.
She was listening.
Calm.
Normal.
No reaction that I could understand.
No signal.
No sign.
Just… her.
---
And in that moment…
something inside me broke.
Silently.
Without sound.
Without warning.
---
The world I had built inside my mind…
the small, quiet world where she existed differently…
collapsed.
In one moment.
---
I never told her anything.
Not once.
Not even a hint.
I was still studying.
I didn't have a stable life.
No strong position.
No future that I could show proudly.
And now…
someone else already had everything.
---
A man I had never seen.
A man who had everything I didn't.
Money.
Status.
Power.
Private jets.
A life that looked perfect from outside.
---
And suddenly…
I felt like I had nothing.
---
I tried to breathe.
But breathing felt different.
Heavier.
Slower.
---
I looked at my plate.
Food was there.
But it didn't feel like food.
It felt like something meaningless.
Something that didn't belong to me anymore.
---
I stood up.
Without saying anything.
Without looking at anyone.
I just left.
---
Behind me, voices continued.
Laughter continued.
Life continued.
But mine…
paused.
---
I walked quickly.
Steps without direction.
Without thinking.
Until I reached the roof.
---
The night air touched my face.
Cold.
But it didn't calm me.
Nothing was calming me.
---
I stood there.
Looking at nothing.
Thinking everything.
---
Time passed.
I don't know how much.
Minutes?
Seconds?
Maybe both felt the same.
---
Then I heard footsteps.
Light.
Careful.
Familiar.
---
She stopped at a distance.
Didn't come close immediately.
"Should I come?" she asked softly.
---
Her voice…
It still had that same effect.
Even now.
Even like this.
---
I didn't turn back.
"Come."
---
She walked slowly and sat beside me.
Not too close.
Not too far.
Just… near enough.
---
She started talking.
Simple things.
Normal things.
But I wasn't listening.
Not properly.
Her words were reaching me…
but not staying.
---
Because my mind was stuck.
In one place.
One sentence.
One moment.
---
"You're sad," she said after a while.
---
I smiled.
Not because I felt like smiling.
But because I didn't know what else to do.
---
"My condition right now…" I said slowly, "…is like a bird whose nest was destroyed by a storm."
I paused.
Looked at the darkness in front of me.
"And before it could even understand what happened… a snake came and ate its eggs."
---
Silence.
---
"My dreams…" I continued softly, "…the ones I was still building… the ones I wasn't even ready to show anyone…"
I swallowed.
"They are gone."
---
"Like something I can never get back."
---
"A snake didn't just take them…"
I let out a small breath.
"It took them away from me… like they never belonged to me in the first place."
---
The wind moved slightly.
Cold.
Empty.
---
She stayed quiet for a few seconds.
Then she turned towards me.
"What happened to you?" she asked.
"You didn't talk like this before."
---
I didn't answer immediately.
Because the answer was too simple.
And too complicated at the same time.
---
"I don't understand," she continued softly. "Which bird… which storm… and who is the snake?"
---
I smiled again.
This time a little deeper.
A little more broken.
---
"That's the problem," I said quietly.
"You're not supposed to understand."
---
Because if she understood…
everything would change.
And I didn't know if I was ready for that.
---
I looked at her finally.
For the first time since we came to the roof.
---
Her face was calm.
But her eyes…
They were searching.
For answers.
For meaning.
For something I wasn't giving her.
---
And in that moment…
I realized something.
---
Maybe the storm wasn't outside.
Maybe it was inside me.
---
And maybe…
the snake was not someone else.
---
Maybe it was time itself.
---
Because it took everything from me…
without asking.
---
And now…
it was standing in front of me again.
In the form of her.
---
But this time…
I didn't know what it was going to take next.
:::::::::_____________________________:::::::::
( New Episode Every Sunday!
Every Sunday, a new chapter will drop… and the story will go deeper than before.
💭 Now it's your turn…
What do you think will happen next?
Is this the end of his dreams…
or just the beginning of something more dangerous?
👇 Comment below and tell me your prediction
I'll be reading every single one.
🔍 Next Episode Hint
I'll reveal the next episode title below…
And from that title, you have to guess what will happen next.
👉 Next Episode Title: [ When Nothing of Us Remains… Yet the Reason Still Exists — Am I Still Alive? Are You Still There?" ]. )