It wasn’t about the flag.

It was about what it meant to me. I’d hung it out front the day I moved in—not to make a statement, just to feel a little more like home. New street, new neighbors, new everything. I was the outsider. Everyone knew it. Nobody said it, but you can feel that kind of thing.

So when I stepped outside and saw the pole empty, just the little plastic clip swinging in the wind, I felt this weird knot in my chest. Anger, sure. But mostly just… disappointed. Like I’d lost more than fabric.