No footsteps today.
No stories.
No hands pressed against the wood.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrxqLUR0eQ
No voice asked for warmth.
Only the wind, soft through the window.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Ky0PZMqE7
Only the fire, steady, without hunger.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaR4k7eERP6
Only me.
And that has always been enough.
I poured no drink. I lit no lantern.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cv1s2LWt6
I watched the dust float in slow circles.
I opened the ledger one last time.
The pages felt… ready.
I did not write to be remembered.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4HakSyJVC
I did not write for others.
I wrote because this place listens,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWsZhzMkcL
and sometimes, I needed to hear myself live.
So here it is:
I do not know what waits beyond the tavern door.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVuSk1wiOy
I never needed to.
Because they came to me.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXKPJxYJZh
And in return, I gave what I could.
A chair. A cup.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyZGzFORtL
A silence that held rather than judged.
I have nothing more to give.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4LizarXTm
And that means, finally,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iF2l2n1XH
everything I gave was real.
I close this book now—not to end,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaROpy9S2Ls
but because the pages are full.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttfKCtaqoU
Because the fire has heard enough.
Because the stillness no longer needs a name.
If someone opens this again—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOOsSRHoFT
they are welcome.
But they do not need me.
They will have the tavern.
They will have what they brought with them.
And perhaps, if the fire leans just right,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVq9mA0ixX
they will have a little more.
The ink dries as I finish this.
I set the pen down.
The chair creaks once.
The fire bows.
And then—
silence.
ns216.73.216.240da2
and then Add to home screen.