Ha Ria and the Path Beyond the Silent Boundary
The Girl Who Learned to Put Down What Wasn't Hers
Chapter 1: When the World Gets Too Heavy
The morning Ha Ria's knees buckled during the Great Achievement Assembly, every parent in the Valley of Endless Striving gasped in perfect unison. One moment she was standing proud on the Winner's Platform, her Burden Pack towering magnificently above her small frame, and the next, she was crumpling like a broken flower, seventeen achievement certificates scattering across the marble floor like fallen leaves.
"Oh my stars and garters!" squeaked Mrs. Busy-Much, the Assembly coordinator, her own pack jingling with organizational medals. "Someone help the poor dear!"
But Ha Ria couldn't move. The Pack, which everyone said was the most impressive they'd ever seen on a nine-year-old, felt like it was made of solid stone. Inside it were forty-three completed homework assignments (including seven extra-credit projects), twelve volunteer certificates, nine perfect attendance awards, and something much heavier: the crushing weight of being everyone's "perf…
