Chapter 13 - The child version of me stood in the center of my mind.He looked small.
Fragile.
But he wasn't afraid.
I knelt.
“What do I forgive?”
He pointed behind me.
I turned.
Everyone stood there.
Mom.
Dad.
Mai.
Elias.
Silly.
Grandmother.
All the people the tree had stolen.
All the people who had lied.
The child said:
“Everything.”
Then I understood.
The tree was feeding on guilt.
Every secret.
Every lie.
Every regret.
Every memory people refused to accept.
That was why it needed us.
Not our bodies.
Our shame.
I stood.
Elias appeared in front of me.
“You can't escape.”
I looked at him.
“I don't want to.”
He frowned.
“You want to stay?”
“No.”
“I want to remember you.”
His expression changed.
“No.”
“You wanted someone to remember you.”
“No.”
“You were angry because everyone forgot.”
He stepped backward.
“Stop.”
“You don't want revenge.”
“You want proof that you existed.”
His body trembled.
“Stop!”
“You're my brother.”
The roots around him began breaking.
“No!”
“You were my brother before the tree made you into this.”
Elias screamed.
The chamber exploded with light.
His face changed.
For a moment he looked like a normal child.
Six years old.
Scared.
Lost.
He looked at me.
“Do you remember my birthday?”
I smiled through tears.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
I told him.
He cried.
Then he smiled.
“Thank you.”
His body dissolved.
The roots fell away.
The heart stopped.
Boom.
Silence.
Then one final beat.
Boom.
The tree collapsed.
The entire underground chamber began falling apart.
Silly grabbed my hand.
“Run!”
We climbed the stairs.
Behind us, walls collapsed.
Voices screamed.
But this time, the voices were fading.
We reached the surface.
The giant tree stood before us.
Its branches were burning from the inside.
The hollow glowed white.
Mai appeared beside the trunk.
She looked like herself again.
A twelve-year-old girl.
She smiled.
“Silly.”
My sister froze.
“I’m sorry.”
Mai nodded.
“I know.”
Then she turned toward me.
“Thank you for remembering.”
I swallowed.
“You're welcome.”
She disappeared.
Then Grandmother appeared.
Not as a monster.
Just an old woman.
She looked tired.
“I was wrong,” she whispered.
Then she faded.
Mom came next.
She kissed my forehead.
“I'm sorry.”
Then Dad.
He smiled.
“You grew up.”
And disappeared.
The tree burned brighter.
Silly leaned against me.
“It's over.”
I looked at her.
“You knew?”
“I hoped.”
The tree collapsed.
The ground shook once.
Then silence.
The night returned.
Crickets.
Wind.
Dogs barking far away.
Normal sounds.
For the first time in hours, the world sounded alive.
We walked toward the highway.
Halfway there, Silly stopped.
“What?”
She looked behind us.
The tree was gone.
Only a huge black hole remained in the earth.
Then she smiled.
“We're free.”
I smiled too.
Until I saw my phone.
It had one new photograph.
A family portrait.
Mom.
Dad.
Silly.
Me.
And Elias.
But this time he wasn't scratched out.
Under the photograph was one message:
“Thank you for opening the door.”
My smile disappeared.
“What door?”
Silly looked at the screen.
Her face went white.
“I thought we destroyed the tree.”
The phone vibrated again.
Another photograph appeared.
It showed our town.
Every house.
Every street.
Every person.
And above the town was a giant shadow shaped like a tree.
Silly whispered:
May you like
“We didn't destroy it.”
“We only moved it.”
