The Boy Who Collected Echoes
In the silent town of Oakhaven, where the wind never blew and the birds rarely sang, lived a young boy named Leo. While other children collected marbles or stamps, Leo had a much stranger hobby: he collected echoes.
Leo carried small, glass jars wherever he went. When someone laughed in an alleyway or a bell chimed in the distance, Leo would quickly unscrew a cap, "catch" the fading sound, and seal it tight. His room was filled with hundreds of glowing jars, each labeled with dates like "Rain on a Tin Roof" or "Grandmother's Hum."