Later that day, Eli walked farther than he ever had in the Orchard.
Beyond the peach groves, where the trees grew taller and stranger, he found a path littered with silver stones. They shimmered like old coins in sunlight. He followed it, curious.
Eventually, the trees gave way to a quiet glade, veiled in mist. It felt colder here. Less… awake.
At the edge of the clearing stood a woman. Her face was pale, eyes wide with a kind of hollow longing. She wore a gray shawl, and her hands trembled slightly, though she did not seem elderly.
Eli approached her slowly.
"Hello?" he called softly.
She turned to him. Her voice was thin.
You're new."
"I am," he said gently. "I'm Eli."
She nodded. "Marisol."
Her gaze drifted past him, unfocused. "I've been here… a while."
Eli frowned. "Why aren't you in the orchard?"
"I tried," she said. "But I couldn't stay."
"Why not?"
She looked down. "I left something unfinished. A daughter who thinks I abandoned her. I tried to whisper to her. I reached out in dreams, but she recoiled. She's angry. I cannot rest while she believes I didn't love her."
Eli's heart sank.
He sat beside her on a mossy log. "What happens if you stay out here?"
She shrugged. "Nothing. That's the punishment. Just… nothing. I wander. I listen.
I watch the orchard from a distance. And I wait."
"Wait for what?"
"For her to forgive me. Or for me to fade."
Eli looked back at the silver path. It led away from warmth. Toward silence.
"There are others," Marisol said. "Some wander deeper. Some disappear."
"Disappear?"
She said nothing.
Before he could ask more, a rustle came from the trees behind her. A figure emerged—tall, robed in dark fabric that shimmered like charcoal. A guide. But different from the librarian. This one bore no warmth. Only necessity.
He inclined his head to Eli. "She cannot return to the Orchard yet."
"Why not?"
"She is tethered. Her echo is blocked by bitterness."
Eli looked at Marisol. "Is there anything I can do?"
The guide looked at him with something like surprise. Then, faint approval.
"Perhaps."