The memory had become larger than the place itself.
Now, sitting in her car and looking through the windshield, she had to confront an unfamiliar truth.
The world had continued.
The road had not remained trapped in the past simply because she had been unable to return to it. Life had moved forward there, just as it had everywhere else.
For a few moments, Elira did not know what to do with that realization.
She parked a short distance away and switched off the engine.
The sudden quiet made the inside of the car feel smaller.
She placed both hands in her lap and looked through the windshield. The familiar road stretched ahead, bordered by the fence and the trees she had remembered for so long.
She had arrived.
Yet she did not immediately open the door.
Several minutes passed.
She watched a vehicle move along the road and disappear into the distance. Somewhere nearby, leaves rustled softly. The ordinary sounds of the afternoon continued without interruption.
