Critical Hit To The Heart

[Verse 1]
We wrote our names on a tavern door
On a scrap of graph paper and hope
You were drawing maps on a coffee cup
I was learning how to let go
Laughing 'til the snacks ran out
Arguing over made-up towns
Funny how my heartbeat jumped
When your ranger almost drowned
[Chorus]
Why does it feel so real
When it's ink on a page
And a table
And friends?
Why does it hurt to heal
When the paladin falls
And we know it's pretend?
It's not just the numbers that tear us apart
It's a critical hit to the heart
We roll and we fight and we fall in the dark
But the story remembers our marks
[Verse 2]
You held my hand as your cleric cried
Over someone that never lived
I watched your voice start to shake and break
Over words we decided to give
Torchlight in a dusty hall
Really just a lamp in your room
Still I swear I smelled that burning rope
When we ran from the ruined tomb
[Chorus]
Why does it feel so real
When it's ink on a page
And a table
And friends?
Why does it hurt to heal
When the wizard lets go
And we reach for the end?
It's not just the chances we tally in part
It's a critical hit to the heart
We swear that we’re safe
But the moment it starts
All the cardboard turns into scars
[Bridge]
Maybe we just need a place
To say the things we never say
To lose a life to find a way
To love and leave in one long day
Maybe we’re the ones we play
Maybe we’re the ghosts we save (oh)
Every time a hero falls
We learn how to stay
[Chorus]
That’s why it feels so real
More than ink
More than plans
More than plastic and pens
That’s why it hurts to heal
When a farewell scene means we won’t meet again
It’s not just the chances or casting a part
It’s a critical hit to the heart
We sit in a circle and call it a game
But the story remembers our names

folk, Warm folk-pop ballad with male vocals, subtle indie-rock edge. Fingerpicked acoustic guitar and soft piano in the verses, brushed kit and bass swelling in on the chorus. Intimate, close-mic vocal, light reverb. Choruses bloom with subtle harmonies and a singalong feel, bridge strips back to voice and guitar before a final, lifted refrain.