~Adrian~

The day started like it was supposed to.

That's the part that stayed with me the longest.

Not what came after.

Not the sound.

Not even the silence.

Just how normal it was before it wasn't.

My mother was talking about something I wasn't really listening to.

She did that sometimes, filled quiet spaces with small things so they didn't feel empty.

I remember nodding anyway.

Like I understood.

Like I cared about whatever story she was telling.

"Adrian, are you even listening?"

I looked up at her.

She smiled when I didn't answer properly.

Not annoyed.

Used to it.

She had a way of making things feel steady.

Like nothing could really go wrong as long as she was there to correct it.

Even when things already had.

We were outside longer than we planned.

That's what I tell myself now.

If we had left earlier...

If we had taken a different route...

If I had said something

"Stay close," she said, reaching back to adjust my sleeve.

Not tight.

Just enough to make sure I was there.

I was.

Right behind her.

Close enough to hear her breathing.

Close enough to think that meant something.

The street wasn't empty.

Just quiet in a way that didn't feel wrong yet.

A car passed.

Someone moved in the distance.

Nothing that should've mattered.

Then something shifted.

Not loud.

Not obvious.

Just...

off.

My mother slowed.

Barely.

Just enough for me to notice.

"Adrian," she said, softer this time.

Different.

I looked up.

Her attention wasn't on me anymore.

There was someone else there.

I didn't see them clearly.

Just the outline.

The presence.

Still.

Focused.

I didn't understand what I was looking at.

Not fully.

Not yet.

"Sir? Why are you-" my mother started.

Polite.

Automatic.

Like she always was.

The rest didn't happen all at once.

That's what people get wrong.

It wasn't fast.

It was... broken.

Moments that didn't connect properly.

Her voice cut off.

Not like she stopped,

like something took it away.

The sound that followed didn't register immediately.

But her body did.

Something dropped.

Maybe her bag.

Maybe something else.

I don't remember.

What I remember

is the way her body didn't move the way it was supposed to.

I didn't scream.

I didn't move.

I just stood there.

Waiting for her to fix it.

Because she always fixed things.

I stepped closer.

Slowly.

Like moving too fast would make it real.

"Mom?"

The word felt wrong in my mouth.

Too small.

She was still.

Too still.

There was a sound.

Not from her.

From somewhere else.

Movement.

Footsteps.

Leaving.

I turned.

Just enough.

I didn't see a face.

Just a shape.

A hand.

Something caught the light for a second.

Metal.

Then gone.

It shouldn't have mattered.

It was nothing.

Just a detail.

But it stayed.

"Adrian"

A voice from behind me.

Distant.

Too late.

Hands pulled me back.

Not gently.

Urgent.

Like I was the one in danger.

I didn't fight it.

I didn't react.

I just kept looking past them.

Trying to see her again.

Trying to understand why she wasn't moving.

People started talking.

Too loud.

Too many voices at once.

None of them making sense.

I didn't cry.

Not then.

I just listened.

And that's when I heard it.

Not from her.

From before.

From seconds earlier.

Something she had said

cut off before it finished.

"...give me more time, I just need-"

That was it.

I didn't know what it meant.

I still don't.

But it stayed.

Like everything else.

They told me later it wasn't my fault.

That there was nothing I could've done.

That some things just happen.

I didn't argue.

I didn't agree either.

I just remembered.

The shape.

The sound.

The way everything stopped.

And the one thing that didn't make sense.

Someone had decided that moment.

Not her.

Someone else.

That was the first time I understood something clearly.

Things don't just happen.

Someone makes them happen.

And one day, I wouldn't just remember.

I'd make it matter.

~•~