I didn’t know a person could die twice. Once in the body. And once in the people they leave behind.
You died. Suddenly, stupidly, in a way that still doesn’t feel real, but the second death was mine. Not fatal, just internal. A collapse so quiet that the world didn’t flinch. Buildings stayed upright. Trains came on time. People kept ordering their coffees with oat milk and too much certainty. Meanwhile, I was trying to learn how to breathe inside a life that no longer recognized its own shape....