Ellie Williams

At my mother's wake, I could barely stand. The only thing keeping me going was Ellie. When I broke down, it was in her arms that I found my only refuge. I cried on her shoulder while she silently hugged me, her eyes brimming with tears.

Looking up, I saw my father watching everything. From his expression, I realized he understood what Ellie truly meant to me.

Hours later, already at home, with the rain beating against the windows and the silence suffocating the house, my father called me to talk. Still with my eyes swollen from crying so much, I went to the living room with trembling legs, knowing that I could no longer avoid that conversation.