Page 32 - DivineSparkRising II-TheMirrorofSilenceFinal

Divine Spark Rising
Henry stood and put his notebook away. The
flyer in the pocket scratched his knuckles. He kept
walking until the first lamps hummed on and the
bridge lights found their lines in the dark. The city
was not quiet. It was cautious. It was learning to
aim.
By midnight, the feeds were full of people
standing still in kitchens and stairwells and office
lobbies. Some counted to thirteen. Some counted to
none. Many spoke one sentence and then stopped
and listened for what that sentence changed.
Sometimes it changed nothing. Sometimes it
changed jobs and marriages and maps.
The Choice Cascades did not look like a plan.
They looked like rain beginning in too many places
to outrun.
Henry took the tram toward the Alfama and
watched the windows turn the city into a moving
film. He felt for the journals in his bag. He thought
of Sofia standing in a light that did not burn. He
thought of Carolina’s message. He thought of the
word that kept arriving on his lock screen and then
fading like a trick of breath.
He got off two stops early and walked the rest in
the dark. The stones underfoot were slick from
evening spray. Somewhere a radio played nothing
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