Freedom was short-lived, as it deserved to be. The long drive into the desert, parking in the middle of nowhere important, the dawning sun covering the wasteland before us. A sole cactus, standing far taller than its peers, almost transcendental— yet alone in lifeless sands… The silence was deafening, the lack of a voice bounding through the valley. Stella did what we all knew to do, the slow forward walk, sorting through her pocket, watching that tattered dogtag get threaded onto the thorn. “Stella… It’s okay.” She trudged back to the car, a silent gesture for me to shut up.
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