I Listened for the House to Go Still

Dear Delyara, That’s become one of my evening rituals. Not brushing my teeth. Not checking the doors. Listening. Listening for the taps to stop. For the footsteps to finish. For the last cupboard to close. For the final child-sound to go quiet. For the whole house to admit that it is done asking for the day. When it finally happened tonight, I felt relief move through me like heat. And then I felt sad that relief only arrives properly when everybody else has stopped needing. That felt like a truth worth writing down.