Comic Story
Panel 1
It’s been a week since she left, but her desk still feels warm, like she just got up to sharpen a pencil. The silence she left behind is louder than any noise in this classroom.
Panel 2
Principal Thompson said we could clear out her locker. It feels wrong, like we’re erasing the last little piece of her that’s still here.
Panel 3
Wait, what's this? Elara never just left things behind; everything she did had a purpose.
Panel 4
It’s a riddle. 'Where stories sleep and whispers live, I left a memory of what we give.'
Panel 5
The library, of course! Remember that fantasy series we all used to read together in that corner nook?
Panel 6
This is the one, 'The Dragon's Cipher.' She must have put something inside.
Panel 7
It's not a clue... it's a pressed daisy. From the day we all skipped class and had a picnic in the park.
Panel 8
The art room. She spent more time in there than anywhere else.
Panel 9
She was working on this... but she never showed us. I wonder why she kept it a secret.
Panel 10
It’s us. She painted us, laughing on that day in the park.
Panel 11
Look, on the back. 'Where our voices once fell flat, a new key sits beneath a seat.'
Panel 12
The auditorium talent show. We were so nervous, we sang completely off-key.
Panel 13
I can't believe she remembered the exact seat. Here it is.
Panel 14
The door to the rooftop garden? I thought this was permanently locked.
Panel 15
Wow. She made this place… beautiful.
Panel 16
Is this it? The hidden treasure?
Panel 17
It's not treasure. It’s… everything. A ticket from that movie, a shell from the beach, a photo of us making faces.
Panel 18
There's a note. 'The real treasure wasn't at the end. It was in remembering how we got here.'
Panel 19
'Goodbye is just a word. Plant these, and we can grow something new together, even when we're apart.'
Panel 20
She didn't leave us at all, did she? She just gave us a new way to find her.