Blue Flame

I held the photo with shaky hands—

a child frozen,

eyes wide,

mouth sewn shut with secrets.

Time had yellowed the corners,

but the silence still screamed.

A match hissed.

Blue flame whispered.

Memories rising.

Smoke curled like fingers,

pulling me back—

to that house,

that night,

that voice.

I watched her burn.

That small version of me,

trapped between time,

between breaths—

a ghost in paper flesh.

She floated,

not in heaven,

not in hell,

but somewhere in the quiet.

Limbo.

Until the fire took her face—

softly,

savagely—

and the silence broke.

Ash fell like snowfall.

My chest cracked open.

And the soul I’d hidden

slipped out,

weightless.

Free.