CHAPTER 13 – THE NEXT LIFE

The tree stood at the edge of the field—tall, proud, impossibly red. Its blossoms fluttered down like paper prayers, settling in the grass like wishes made by people who forgot what they wanted.

Two children sat beneath it.

A boy, maybe ten. A girl, maybe younger.

He was sketching the tree with a stubby pencil on a scrap of paper.
She was plucking petals and arranging them in her lap like a crown.

They didn’t speak.

They didn’t need to.

He paused his drawing to look at her.

She looked back, then smiled.

“Do I know you?” she asked.

The boy shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

A beat.

“But I think I’ll know you for a long time.”

She nodded and offered him the petal crown.

He took it, laughing, and placed it gently on her head.

Above them, the red tree stood still.

Watching.

Remembering.

Not grieving.
Not longing.

Just… knowing.

And in the wind, something stirred—

Not a name.
Not a voice.
But a feeling.

A promise kept.

[END OF CHAPTER 13 – THE LOOPED LOVERS]