Shadows of Loss

Then came the darkness. First, the shadow of war fell across their door.

Elara’s father, a man of duty, kissed them goodbye one misty morning, his face etched

with a silent sorrow that Elara was too young to understand. He promised to return before the first

snow. The snow fell, melted, and fell again, but his letters

eventually stopped, and his laugh became a fading memory. The silence he left behind was a heavy,

suffocating blanket. Her mother tried to remain strong, but the inner light that had defined

her slowly dimmed. A sickness, quiet and relentless, took hold. She grew frail,

her lullabies turning into soft, exhausted whispers. One spring morning, Elara woke to find