"Before I Was Born" — Complete 

To anyone reading this —

Thank you for making it to the end.

This story started as a vague idea and became something much more personal than I expected. Riley's grief, his mother's voice, his father's silence — a lot of this came from real life. From real love. From real loss.

I hope somewhere in these chapters you found something that felt familiar. Maybe you also made a promise to someone you lost. Maybe you also forgot, for a while, what you wanted. Maybe you also have a dream you buried because something more important came first.

This story is for you.

It's never too late to look up at the sky.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for staying until the end.

— the author