He put the car in gear. He didn't have all the answers, and the rain hadn't stopped, but the rhythm of the song had become the rhythm of his feet on the pedals. One mile. One minute. One breath at a time.
The rain didn't just fall in Seattle; it felt like it was trying to drown the pavement. We The Kings - Just Keep Breathing
The song built into a swell of percussion, a defiant heartbeat. Elias realized he wasn't just sitting in a car; he was standing at a crossroads. The bills were real, the fear was real, but the air in his lungs was more real. He put the car in gear
He reached out and flicked the radio dial. A familiar acoustic guitar melody cut through the static, followed by a voice that sounded like a hand reaching through the dark. “Just keep breathing...” One minute
He thought about his sister, who was waiting for him at home with a smile she didn't know she was supposed to lose yet. He thought about the sunrise he’d seen two days ago—the way the orange light had bled into the gray sky, proving that the dark never actually wins the morning.
The lyrics hit him like a physical weight. Elias closed his eyes and forced his lungs to expand. In for four, hold for four, out for four.