into himself when handling his “things,” how his face would drain of color, his posture curling inward, as though he were only half-present—like someone standing there simply because a ritual required it.
The box had always been there.
Locked. Hidden away in a storage room he rarely used. No one ever asked what was inside—not me, not my mother. Even she—his wife—had learned long ago not to question certain boundaries.
But that day, something was different.
Curiosity overcame the quiet fear she had learned to live with.
The day before,
