Aria Solstice

Tethered Silence delves into the fragmented psyche of Raven, a young woman bound by roles she never chose. Raised by a mother who grooms her to be both wife to her stepfather and mother to her siblings, Raven’s existence has never been her own. As her body carries the visible marks of her compliance, her mind suffocates under the weight of expectations that seem inescapable.
Raven drifts through life, detached from her emotions and desires—if she ever had any. Her days blur in a numbing cycle of caregiving and survival, and her voice drowns in a silence she has never been allowed to break. On the cusp of adulthood, she finds herself attending college, an environment that promises freedom but only sharpens her awareness of the chains that bind her.
This is not a story of love, nor is it a tale of self-discovery. This is the slow unraveling of a life that was never lived for oneself. There is no salvation here—only the echoes of a mind slowly breaking under the weight of a life never meant to be hers.

Tethered Silence

The cab ride back to campus was quiet, the steady hum of the engine blending with the soft crunch of snow beneath the tires. Outside, the world passed in a blur of frost-tipped trees and icy streets, the overcast sky promising more snow before the day was out. I leaned my head against the cold window, my reflection staring back at me, pale and tired. 


Elias’s words from earlier swirled in my mind: “You owe me a dinner date then.” A small, involuntary laugh escaped me, though it quickly faded. 


Aiden’s confession still weighed heavily on my chest, as did my reaction. I’d avoided opening my phone after seeing Maya’s earlier text, unwilling to think about what might come next. Instead, I focused on the present—the snow-dusted campus that came into view as the cab turned onto the familiar road leading to the dorms. 


The Shape of Guilt