For the first time in what felt like forever, I woke without an alarm.
No shrill tone shattered the silence. No hurried knock sounded at my bedroom door. No schedule waited impatiently beside my bed, demanding that I be somewhere before sunrise. Instead, I slowly opened my eyes to the gentle warmth of morning sunlight filtering through the curtains, painting soft golden patterns across the walls of my room.
I didn't move.
I simply lay there, listening.
The house was wonderfully quiet.
Somewhere outside, birds greeted the new day with cheerful songs, and a light breeze stirred the leaves beyond my window. The neighborhood had already begun waking, but none of it carried the frantic energy that had surrounded me over the past several weeks.
Silence.
