it was all so strange and so surreal. ⊰ @spiritsfound
the words lingered in the air, fragile & heavy all at once.
lourdes watched benny, the way his breath sat uneven in his chest, the way his fingers twitched like they longed to grasp something real. strange. surreal. she knew the feeling well — the way the world could slip through your hands, how even the ground beneath you could feel like a dream that might dissolve at any moment.
she moved without a word, closing the space between them. her hand, cool & steady, found his. a light touch at first, then a firmer press, a silent offering: you are here. i am here. the world has not swallowed you whole.
❝the feeling will pass, ❞ she said softly, though she knew it was not always so simple. some things stayed, became part of you, shadows that stretched long into the years. but she had carried such things before. she could carry this too — if he would let her.
her fingers curled gently around his, an anchor against the tide. ❝until it does, you don’t have to bear it alone. ❞