Chapter 4 — Bridges and Barriers

Alina

The late-afternoon sun slanted through the bookstore’s bay windows, casting golden light onto the uneven floorboards. Dust motes hung motionless in the still air, illuminated like tiny constellations. Alina perched on the edge of the counter, the solid wood cool against her palms. Her sea-green eyes swept over the space—the crooked shelves leaning under their own weight, the stacks of books teetering like forgotten monuments, the faint briny breeze wafting in through the cracked window above the door. The place had an undeniable charm, a beauty born of resilience, yet it felt as though the life had been slowly leached from its walls.