by this hour, only a few souls are awake to witness the dawn. the sky wears soft shades of fading blue and quiet gold, while the cold breeze slips gently through the empty streets. everything is so still that even silence seems to have found a place to rest. ~ i wonder if this is what peace truly looks like. ~ the lonely road reminds me of the life i once carried within me, a world that was calm, gentle, and untouched. then the storm arrived without warning. it did not simply pass through, it lingered. it stripped away the warmth I once knew and left behind a silence that no sunrise had ever been able to fill. ~ now, every dawn feels less like a beginning and more like a memory of the person i used to be. the sky still blooms into beautiful colours, the wind still whispers, and the roads remain patiently empty. yet, somewhere between the light and the silence, i find myself mourning a version of me that never found the way back home.