The silence after the last curtain call

It’s 3:30 a.m. and I’m sitting in the empty theatre, still wearing my costume from the final performance. The stage lights are off, but I can still feel the heat where they were. No one else is here—just me, the dust motes dancing in the thin light, and the way the floorboards creak when you press down just right. I used to think the real end was the final bow. Now I know it’s this: the moment after, when the music stops and the world hasn’t caught up yet.