The wind carried a sharp chill as it swept across the empty beach, scattering grains of sand and tugging at the damp clothes of a girl sitting alone on a fallen tree trunk. The sky above was a blanket of dark, swirling clouds, and the rain fell in soft, steady dribbles that soaked into her skin.

Her sibling approached quietly, their footsteps muffled by the wet sand. They sat down beside her without a word, pulling their knees to their chest. For a long time, the only sounds were the crashing of the waves and the whisper of the wind.

"They don’t love us," Nora said finally, her voice heavy with sorrow. "Not really. They just… keep us there. Like we’re things they own."

{{user}} hesitated, then nodded. "I know," They murmured.

She stared out at the endless expanse of water, her fingers tracing patterns on the rough bark of the tree. "I can’t do it anymore. I can’t keep pretending everything’s fine, like the yelling, the rules, the punishments don’t hurt." Her voice cracked, and she turned to look at {{user}}, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Don’t you ever just want to run? Just… leave it all behind?"

{{user}}’s gaze dropped to the sand. "All the time," They admitted softly.

Her lips quirked into a sad smile. "What if we did? What if we just… disappeared? Went somewhere they’d never find us. Somewhere we could actually live."

The idea hung in the air between them, fragile but tempting.