At the edge of the sea,

a father stands beside his daughter. She picks a stone,

small and smooth,

and with all the might of a young heart,

she throws it into the waves.

He doesn’t speak.

He watches.

Not just the splash, but her joy.

Her fierce concentration.

Her unshaped dreams tossed into the horizon.

She doesn’t know that he’s not watching the stone— he’s watching her.

How she grows, how she dares, how she tries again and again even when the sea gives nothing back.

To her, it’s a game.

To him, it’s everything.

A father and daughter at the shore— one throwing stones,

the other anchoring the sky.