SUI GENERIS: Silent Flight

She had fed the flames for everyone else until the smoke filled her own lungs. Standing at the edge of the inferno, face steady and carved from quiet endurance, she felt something inside her stir. A black bird emerged from the chaos, carrying the words she could no longer speak and the ache she could no longer hold. It flew into the burning sky, not to escape, but to carry a piece of her forward. She remained, lighter now, watching the horizon. The fire still roared, but for the first time in a long while, she had let something go.