Being (2024)

"Where is your story?" Elias asked, shocked. In Aethelgard, being seen without a cloak was like being invisible.

For a moment, the cold air hit his skin and he felt a terrifying lightness, as if he might float away. But then, he heard a bird chirp. He felt the rough texture of the bench. He smelled the rain-slicked earth. He wasn't the Architect or the Scholar anymore. He was simply there . "It's quiet," Elias whispered. "No," the woman smiled. "It's finally real.". "Where is your story

"The space between the breaths," she replied. "The one who sees the light. The one who feels the wind. I am the silence that allows the music to exist.". But then, he heard a bird chirp

"But who are you without your story?" Elias pressed. "If you aren't the Weaver of Echoes, or the Architect of the Plaza, what is left?" He wasn't the Architect or the Scholar anymore

Slowly, Elias reached for the clasp at his neck. It was rusted from years of use. With a sharp tug, it snapped. The heavy tapestry fell to the grass in a heap of dead echoes.

This story explores the concept of "being" through a protagonist who discovers that existence is not about the stories we tell ourselves, but about the simple act of presence. The Weaver of Echoes