Vera, Russia, Age 34
They have taken almost everything from us – words, paths, choices. But one thing remains: the knowledge of freedom. I have known it, felt it, dreamed of it. And even as walls rise around me and voices fall silent, it still lives on inside me. In thoughts, in memories, in the silent defiance of not accepting everything. Freedom is distant – yes. But not dead. As long as I carry it within me, as long as I refuse to forget what it means to be free, it can return. Maybe not today. But one day. And maybe it begins right here – within me.