The room still stands, but the air won’t answer. Walls hold details I stopped checking for. Every sound arrives unfinished, like it lost its reason halfway here. I move through familiar outlines that don’t recognize me back. Even light pauses, as if it expects resistance. Something shifted its weight. I noticed late. I don’t reach for balance anymore. The floor doesn’t agree with me. What kept me upright won’t explain itself twice. The world feels wider in a way that doesn’t correct me. Not open, emptied. Not quiet, diluted. Every step lands clean but carries too far. Nothing pulls me back. Nothing asks if it should. I recognize places by what they no longer require. No hesitation, no friction just permission to pass through. Even memory slows down, like it’s waiting for direction. The past doesn’t lean forward anymore. It sits where I left it, indifferent. I don’t argue with the silence. I already tried that version. I don’t brace for impact. I don’t expect collapse. I stand inside the moment and tell myself this counts as choice. The world feels wider in a way that doesn’t correct me. Not open, emptied. Not quiet, diluted. Every step lands clean but carries too far. Nothing pulls me back. Nothing asks if it should. Colors arrive without commitment. Time slouches, unimpressed. Even gravity feels optional like it’s waiting for instruction. I’m not lighter. I’m not free. I just stopped resisting the place I kept pretending to leave. Something detached and the structure stayed standing. Something loosened and nothing rushed to replace it. This isn’t absence. This is what’s left when pressure stops arguing and I don’t either. The world feels wider in a way that doesn’t correct me. Not open, emptied. Not quiet, diluted. The world feels wider and I don’t know if that’s progress. Every distance recalculates without checking who I was. I don’t collapse. I don’t ascend. I stand inside the change and wait to see if it notices me at all. Nothing closes behind me. Nothing opens ahead. The air still holds. I tell myself I should too.
