At the time, she had not been able to think about the location without returning mentally to the event itself.
The tree had been an afterthought.
Now, standing beside the fence, she looked at it differently.
Its trunk was thicker than she expected, and its branches extended above the fence. Leaves moved gently in the breeze, creating shifting patterns of light and shadow on the ground.
The tree had grown while she had stayed away.
Season after season, it had continued its quiet development. It had endured rain, wind, changing temperatures, and the ordinary pressures of living in the natural world.
No one needed to witness every stage of that growth for it to continue.
Elira found herself thinking about the time that had passed.
How many summers had the tree experienced? How many winters had stripped away its leaves? How many mornings had people walked past it without noticing anything unusual?
