The next morning felt normal enough.
Too normal. That suspicious kind of normal where even birds sound like they're trying too hard to act natural.
Dioka woke first, brushing back his hair and replaying yesterday's whisper in his head. He didn't tell Guakulia everything — not the part where it didn't feel random. He didn't want to seem paranoid.
Guakulia stumbled out of bed like a man who'd fought the entire dream realm bare-handed.
"That river whisper thing is still living rent-free in your head," he muttered, half-asleep.
Dioka shrugged. "You don't forget something that felt like someone breathed inside your skull."
"…Bro, don't say it like that," Guakulia said, visibly creeped out. "Use… nicer words."
Behind the jokes, though, Guakulia was watching. Quietly. He felt something too yesterday — not a whisper, but that sudden cold air that didn't match the season.
Neither said it out loud, but both were carrying the same invisible weight now.
---
The Path by the North Cliff
After breakfast, they headed to the cliffs. Tradition — every week, they walked the north path to watch the ocean from the highest point.
Dioka liked the peace.
Guakulia liked pretending he could jump and land dramatically (he absolutely could not).
The path was quiet today.
Wind slow. Sea muted.
Guakulia kicked a pebble down the slope. "Bro… why's the ocean so calm? Did it run out of waves?"
"It doesn't look normal," Dioka murmured.
Normally the sea fought the cliffs like they owed it money. Today? It was still.
Not calm. Still.
Like it was listening.
Then it happened.
---
A Flash of Something Impossible
Guakulia paused mid-step. His eyes widened — not fear, more like disbelief mixed with confusion.
"Yo… Dioka… am I tripping or—"
He pointed toward the horizon.
Far out on the water, just for a split second, something shimmered.
Not a boat. Not sunlight. Something else. Something impossible.
A tall, thin silhouette, standing on the ocean like it wasn't water at all.
And then — gone.
Not vanished dramatically. Just… erased. Like it had never been there.
Dioka felt his chest tighten. "You saw it too?"
Guakulia nodded slowly, trying to play it cool but failing miserably. "Bro… what did we just see? A sea ghost?"
"Ghosts don't reflect light like that."
"…So, a bougie ghost?"
"Guakulia."
"Okay okay, I'm serious. That was… bro, that was something."
Both boys moved closer to the cliff edge without thinking, eyes locked on the horizon like the figure might appear again.
It didn't.
But the sea?
It suddenly breathed. A massive exhale of wind pushed through the cliffs — heavy, deliberate, like the world itself shifted its weight.
Dioka shivered. "Why does it feel like everything's… watching?"
Guakulia swallowed. "Because it is."
---
The World Pretends Nothing Happened
Two seconds later, the waves returned.
Birds chirped.
The wind softened.
The ocean looked exactly how it should: wild, loud, full of noise.
Dioka exhaled shakily. "We're not imagining this."
"Nope," Guakulia said. "And honestly? I kinda wish we were. Because what was that silhouette standing on… water? Bro, that's disrespectful."
But Dioka wasn't laughing.
He felt something heavy in his chest — not fear, but recognition.
The whisper yesterday. The silhouette today.
Two puzzle pieces. Two small taps from something ancient waking up.
Something that knew their names… before they even knew it existed.
And it was only the beginning.