Echoed Account
Receipts piled in a drawer, each displaying a small, consistent deduction—a phantom expense alongside larger bills. Closer examination links those charges to days spent wholly absorbed by touch: the cool curve of river stones held for hours, or feeling the shift of weight while balancing. It seemed a price was paid not with money, but with focused awareness, an almost imperceptible draining during periods of intense stillness and recollection. Holding one now, the paper warmed slightly under a fingertip pressed against its surface—a quiet acknowledgement of something given.