The page had barely settled after a chapter when I looked up from my office desk and noticed the silence. Not the dramatic kind. Just the familiar stillness that arrives when you work alone for long enough. The soft hum of the air conditioner. A half-empty water bottle beside the keyboard. A notebook lying open with a few unfinished thoughts waiting to be revisited. I found myself staring at those ordinary details for a moment longer than usual. There was something strangely