The Price Of Fate
“Trees that grow without blood feeding them. Soil that gives more than it takes. Nights that cool. Seasons that still know their order. Children can run outside without first learning which winds carry sickness. To you, this is normal. To many beyond the barrier, it is wealth beyond measure.”
The van went silent. I looked out the window again. Trees moved past. Ordinary trees. Dark shapes against a darkening sky. I had grown up under trees like that and thought they were simply there. I had walked through woods to cry because the pack had hurt me. I had hidden under branches, bled under leaves, breathed air that did not burn, drank water that did not poison, and never once thought of those t