Part -1
The Weight of Her Shadow
Episode 1
Rain tapped gently against the windowpane, as if the world outside had fallen into the same quiet sadness that lived inside the room. Elara lay sprawled across her bed, one arm dangling lifelessly off the edge, her face half-buried in a pillow she didn't even like. Beside her, a notebook lay open, untouched - only her name written and scribbled over until the page had nearly torn.
She wasn't tired. She wasn't lazy.
She just... couldn't.
Across the room, Mira sat at her desk, posture perfect, books neatly aligned like they'd been measured with a ruler. Her pen moved fluidly across the page, like her hand was meant for solving equations, like effort had always been her second nature. She didn't need to be reminded to study. Mira was the reminder.
"You're seriously doing nothing again?" Mira's voice, sharp and dry, cut through the silence.
Elara didn't respond. She blinked slowly at the ceiling, letting the fan blur her thoughts into noise.
"Midterms are in two weeks," Mira said without looking up. Her tone wasn't angry - it never was. That made it worse. She didn't sound like she cared. She sounded like she was ticking off a responsibility.
Elara rolled to her side, facing away from her. "I don't feel like it."
Mira scoffed. It was quiet, but deliberate - just loud enough to sting.
"You never do. No wonder Mom's always disappointed in you."
That line hung in the air like smoke - toxic, slow, and suffocating.
Elara clenched her teeth. She didn't sit up. Didn't shout. Didn't cry. But inside her, something cracked - the kind of crack that doesn't make noise, but spreads until everything feels like it might collapse.
Mira still didn't look at her.
She just kept writing.
Elara turned her face into the pillow, her heart thudding like it wanted to fight but didn't know how. Mira didn't have to raise her voice. Her words were sharper when whispered. She didn't insult. She diagnosed.
Everyone loved Mira.
The girl who remembered homework.
The girl who stood first in everything.
The girl who made parenting look easy.
And Elara? She was the "why can't
❤️Author's note
Hi, I'm Aarya - the girl behind The Weight of Her Shadow.
This story is not just fiction. It's a reflection of emotions I've carried quietly for a long time - the feeling of being unseen, unheard, or misunderstood... and still finding strength in the silence.
Elara's story is my way of speaking what I often cannot say out loud. Writing this hurt - truly hurt - but in a strange way, it also healed something inside me.
If you've ever felt like you weren't enough, if you've ever compared yourself to someone else, or cried alone at night - this story is for you.
You are not alone.
Thank you for reading this piece of my heart.
If it touched you, even a little... I hope you stay with Elara till the very end.
With love,
Aarya 🖤❤️