Threadless : A growing novel

"What do you do when the dream dreams back?"

The rain wasn't wet.

Aro walked through it anyway.

Droplets fell like they were acting — tiny rehearsals of rain, perfectly timed. Each one struck the ground without sound.

She looked up at the sky.

No clouds.

Only a blank page above her, flickering once every few seconds like a film reel catching.

Rin's morning had started normally.

Until he stepped outside and realized the town had… looped.

Not in full. Just the sidewalk. It took him three steps forward to find himself behind his front door again.

He tried again. And again.

Each time, the world politely reset him.

Like it was asking, Are you sure you want to leave?

He met Aro at the edge of the library steps.

They didn't speak.

Instead, she held out her palm. Rain slid across it like pixels.

"You feel that?" she asked.

Rin nodded. "It's not weather."

A pause.

"Do you think we're—"

A voice cut her off.

"Found you."

Mei.

She stood just behind the stone railing, twirling a silver ring around her finger.

She smiled — not threatening. Not kind. Just... present.

"I brought you something," she said.

In her other hand: a book.

No title. No author. Just a dark blue cover and a ribbon wrapped around it, like a forgotten gift.

"What is it?" Rin asked.

Mei shrugged.

"You wrote it.

But not yet."

Rin reached for the book.

The ribbon pulsed once — softly, like breath held in paper.

But he didn't untie it.

Not yet.

Some truths weren't lost.

They were simply waiting for the right version of him to ask.