One afternoon, she found herself wondering how the tree was doing.
The thought surprised her because it came without the familiar sense of dread. She was not thinking about the accident first. She was thinking about the tree itself.
Had new leaves appeared? Had the weather changed the color of its branches? Was the plaque still easy to read?
The questions were ordinary, but their ordinariness mattered.
She realized that she was curious about the location in a way she had not been for years.
A few days later, she returned.
This time, the journey still carried some emotional weight, but she did not experience the same level of uncertainty. She knew where she was going, and she remembered that she could decide how long to stay.
She parked in the same general area and walked toward the fence.
The tree looked familiar.
Some of its leaves had changed, and the light fell differently across the ground. The plaque remained in place, its words still visible despite the weathering.
