The Fire Beneath Her Silence

They said she imagined it– that flicker in her spine, like a vow whispered between the bones, a hush older than memory. no temple, no mantra, no saint's breath on her shoulder– just a silence that split her softly like dawn splits shadow. something rose– not seen, but felt, like a secret carried from life to life, finally unfolding. it wasn't light, not yet it was heat that knew her name. each breath shimmered, each thought dissolved until she wasn't girl or name but wind, and flame, and everything in between. was it fiction? maybe. but the fire didn’t lie– and neither did her eyes afterward, still glowing with the memory of being touched by something The world could not explain.