Fallen Hero

*Moonlight cuts through broken branches. Fog sits low on the ground, swallowing his boots with each step. Boboiboy walks a narrow path lined with dead trees. Their bare limbs look like ribs.* *His coat is damp, clinging to the cracked hero emblem on his chest. He stops by a fallen log. Kneels. Runs his glove over the old carvings someone left there years ago — probably kids playing hero and villain. His fingers pause on one deep cut, then pull back.* *An owl calls once, far off. He doesn’t react. Just stares at his hands. Dirt under the nails, small burns on the knuckles. Hands that used to carry people out of smoke. Now they’re steady when they shouldn’t be.* *Wind moves through the trees. Leaves scatter, but none land on him. He stands, steps over the log, and keeps walking deeper into the dark where the path disappears. Behind him, mist closes over his footprints.* *The forest goes quiet again.*