The silence between them was almost deafening.
Garah stared at the framed photograph of her younger self—beaming with happiness beside a boy she couldn’t remember.
The boy who stood in front of her now.
“You erased me,” he said again, softer this time, as if the words hurt to repeat.
“I-I didn’t,” Garah whispered. “I don’t even know your name.”
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZWF2Wj18u
He stepped closer, his silver hair falling slightly into his eyes. “Exactly. And yet… I remember everything.”
She took a step back, suddenly unsure whether this was a dream, a memory, or something more terrifying.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31tB4vyrX7
“What are you?” she asked.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8l6GG3MFEU
“Someone who was once part of your everything,” he replied. “But you chose to forget me. Because remembering meant pain.”
Garah’s bracelet began to glow again—this time violently—until it almost burned her wrist.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrOXz9aesL
“Then why are you here now?” she asked.
He reached out, fingertips grazing the space near her shoulder where her red string curled faintly.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmzwL5xIYP
“Because our strings never really broke. They were just… hidden.”
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdu5R7GjpB
Present Day
Pearl stared at the string tied around her pinky.
It was there. Real. Red. Tangled.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Hff9WPS9n
She hadn't noticed it until now. It wasn’t part of a bracelet or ring. It just… existed.
“Zyreen,” she whispered, “do you see this?”
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeriBbL6V2
Zyreen’s eyes widened.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgR4jzQPN1
“Francisco… had one too.”
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavRmAQkxyo
They both turned slowly. Their classmate Francisco was gone.
But a single strand of red thread floated on the wind behind him… vanishing down the hallway.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMbCwhgYc8
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdbVGpHKMq
Back Inside the Memory
The hallway morphed. The walls cracked, the photos fluttered like pages from a notebook blown by wind.
Garah shielded her eyes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxgBHOR92k
The silver-haired boy stood calmly in the center of it all.
And then the ceiling disappeared.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLkOO2Wu98
Above them—strings.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfEAtDtdnQ
Hundreds. Thousands. Endless red strings stretched across the sky like constellations.
Each one glowing. Each one moving.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lxpigrAOP
Garah looked up, breathless.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoMZVv5IQn
“They’re alive,” she said.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBqHKw9lXd
“They are us,” he corrected. “Our memories. Our decisions. Our past and future.”
A new string floated down toward her.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCc7hZCrV8T
It wrapped gently around her wrist.
A name burned faintly at its end.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrMx9319Dd
"Francisco."
ns216.73.216.146da2
