Anthesis of Sadness

Suddenly, silence fell.

Not an ordinary silence. Not the kind you hear after a speech or an announcement. No. A denser, thicker silence. A silence that settles in the throat, that covers the eardrums, that tightens the ribs without warning.

It fell over the coliseum like a leaden blanket, smothering every scream, every movement, every half-begun breath. The stands went quiet in a single breath. Even the air seemed to choke. Even the voiceless creatures, even the lifeforms that do not breathe, those we thought indifferent to the world, stopped.

And something, deep in my bones, shivered.Not with fear.With a mute warning my body understood before I did.

The shadows reacted too. They thickened, tightened, as if they had started moving without shifting place. The sky, clear just seconds before, darkened without clouds, without rumble, without any identifiable phenomenon.

It wasn’t a storm. It was a presence.

An invisible mass had just occupied the space above us, swallowing a bit more light with each second, as if the world itself was holding its breath before what was to come.

And then, in the Vestiges’ gallery, a figure rose.

I hadn’t seen it sit down. I hadn’t even noticed it was there. But the moment it moved, my whole being felt it. There was no sound, no magical flare, no trembling of the air.

Just that silhouette standing, and something icy spreading through me, slowly, inevitably.

This thing bore no name.