THE SILENT MERIDIAN
by Elena Voss

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CHAPTER 1: THE FIRST MAP

    Elena pressed her pen to the vellum and watched the ink bleed outward like a living thing. The coastline she drew curved impossibly — a shore that existed on no chart she had ever studied.
    She paused, her hand trembling. Outside the window, the harbour lights flickered once, twice, then rearranged themselves into a pattern she recognised from her own drawing.

CHAPTER 2: THE VANISHING POINT

    By morning the harbour had changed. The fishermen spoke of it in low voices, crossing themselves as they passed her studio door.
    Elena stared at the map on her desk. The ink was dry, but the coastline had shifted overnight — extending further east, sketching in a peninsula that hadn't been there when she set down her pen.