---
(The silence inside the house was louder than any scream… and the cold—it didn't come from winter, but from within.)
After her burial… there was no mourning, no one cried for her except his aunt, who apologized for everything and collapsed in Icarus's arms.
He, on the other hand… was frozen.
His eyes were dry, his heart felt like someone had wrung it out until not a drop of blood remained.
He returned home, and her scent still lingered on the pillow. Her hair still clung to the brush. Her cup was still on the table…
But it was empty—like everything after her departure.
"Icarus!"
His father shouted as he slammed the table. "Enough of this act. Your mother's gone. Are you crying like a little girl? Get up and clean the room!"
He didn't respond. Didn't even look.
He sat on the floor, staring at a void, then whispered: "I killed her."
His father approached, grabbed him roughly by the collar: "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't challenge me!"
"Not you… I'm the one who let her go… I…"
His father slapped him so hard his head snapped to the side. "You're just an extra burden! I never asked for you! And your mother was as weak as you are!"
It wasn't the words that broke him…
It was that no one defended him.
No one believed him.
No one heard him screaming at night, "Bring my mother back…"
He stopped going to school. Didn't eat. Didn't drink. He sat by her locked door, waiting… just waiting for her to return.
Then one day, during morning assembly, the principal called him out in front of everyone:
"Icarus… our condolences. We heard your mother passed away. We're sorry."
He stood, tried to reply, to say "She's not dead… just gone for a while…"
But the words wouldn't come out.
The students stared at him, whispered… some even laughed.
He collapsed. Fell to his knees, and cried as if the whole world had crumbled on his chest.
After weeks of silence and isolation… "Nila" appeared.
She was a quiet student, the kind no one noticed.
But she was the only one who came close. She sat beside him during recess and said:
"I can't bring your mom back… but I can stay here, if you want."
He said nothing.
But she was the first person who made him feel like he still existed.
The next day, she brought him a piece of cake.
He didn't eat it.
The day after, she drew a small bird on a piece of paper and wrote beneath it:
"A broken wing… can still fly again. It just needs time."
He looked at her with eyes full of pain, then whispered:
"I'm not a bird with a broken wing… I'm the one who fell from the sky."
She smiled and said:
"But even those who fall… if someone catches them, they can still live."
---