med heavier downstairs, the tension palpable. Claude was still there, plun

into the rhythm of the house, to establish some kind of normalcy... even if something insid

toward him, his eyes cold and calculating, as if he were weighing his

's making something of herself, unlike you. You spen

Pierre felt the sting of those words, even though he knew Claude loved to belittle others, especially when

le comment. It was a reproach, a judgment on what he'd done with his years

ttention, to lighten the mood a little. Claude roll

who's always there feeling sorry for herself." The words hit Pierre like a gu

ow, this same house seemed even colder than before. After a few moments of heavy silence, Pierre got up from the sofa, sen

neighborhood," he said calmly, tr

ed for the door, his footsteps echoing in the empty house. As soon as he crossed the threshol

ft. The same trees, the same small shops, and the houses with their slightly faded but charming facades. Pierre

rhood children. He wasn't always the one in charge, but he remembered that

he was apart, like... an outsider. The images flashed by: he saw himself running through the dead le

round him, voices that seemed so close yet so far away today. But as he walked a

ows of an alleyway, stood Andrea, a girl he'd known since childhood. She was still as lively as ever, wit

en this girl in years, and yet, her appearance at that pr

ou?" she said with a mischievous smile, her

d either, it seems. Always wanting to escape the chaos, huh?" Pierre

e the subject. He wasn't ready to share his concerns,

softer voice. "You seem... diff

r, but in an instant, he felt too vulnerable, too uncertain to o

didn't ask any more questions. She smiled and changed the subject, looking relaxed. "I'm working now, you know. Not ar

knew that Andrea, even if she were there, wouldn't be able to ease the growing torment within