The morning came quietly, without any announcement or demand, only the slow light that began to stretch across the walls of my room. I opened my eyes to the sound of leaves brushing against the windowpane, stirred by a gentle wind that seemed less like weather and more like invitation. For the first time in many days, I felt no urgency to rise quickly, and yet I knew I could not stay in bed forever.

The thought of the river had been with me for weeks, like an unfinished sentence that lingered ...