That day, it took a few hours for Morgiana to regain her smile and return to the living room to play with her grandchildren.
Calli was very attached to his grandmother. Leonard noticed that he seemed to model himself after her to keep his cheerfulness constant. During the night, the three of them fell asleep on the couch while watching a comedy movie the siblings loved.
Morgiana's sadness was replaced by an unforgettable smile, a memory that stayed with Leonard for years to come…
The last image of that day was marked by Calli's smile — a precious memory that lasted for three years after.
…
It was a gray day. Sophie was carrying James in her arms while Leonard and Calli walked down the hospital corridors.
"Mom, is grandma okay?" Calli asked, still smiling — he had learned from his grandmother that even in the worst moments, one should smile to bring happiness to others. Sophie remained silent.
Sophie didn't answer. She walked quietly, her face heavy with worry. As they moved through the cold, sterile hallway, Leonard glanced at the patients around them. Some coughed behind masks, others limped, and there were those with visible injuries. Stretchers carried fragile bodies, in conditions Leonard preferred not to understand.
If the world were hell, the hospital was the punishment of the weak. The sound of machines echoed in his ears; the constant beeping created a suffocating atmosphere. Leonard noticed Calli looked confused and uneasy too. So, he decided to hold his brother's hand, determined to offer a bit of strength. This wasn't a moment to falter.
When they reached the room, a nurse stepped out and bumped into Leonard, who gently let go of Calli's hand. Calli ran to the bedside, where Morgiana lay, breathing with the help of machines.
The room was small, but at least cozy, if not for the machines assisting her and those damned beeps. Sophie carefully handed James into Leonard's arms as she approached her mother.
"Oh, mom… We're here, okay? We're here for you," Sophie said, her voice trembling, caressing Morgiana's cheek.
Calli, with teary eyes, held his grandmother's hand as if that gesture could stop the inevitable.
Tears silently rolled down their cheeks, reflecting the purity of their pain. Sophie, her breath catching, could no longer hold back her sobs. She buried her face in her mother's chest, hugging her as if trying to stop time.
The room, filled with the sterile smell of medication, felt increasingly tight, almost suffocating.
Leonard averted his gaze to the window, trying to find an escape from the overwhelming anguish. Outside, the cloudy sky seemed to carry the entire weight of that farewell.
The vase of white azaleas beside the bed, once vibrant, now showed wilted flowers, their petals falling one by one. The breeze sneaking through the window carried them away — almost like a metaphor for the fragility of life slipping away.
At that moment, watching Calli quietly sob by his grandmother's side, Leonard felt something change. The smile his brother always wore, so full of hope and innocence, seemed to shatter before his eyes.
He knew, with painful certainty, that smile would never be the same again.
…
Leonard woke up in the middle of the night, the rain still falling. Tears ran down his face, mixing with the water soaking him. The storm hadn't stopped, but now it brought memories of a nearly forgotten past.
Rising, stretching, and letting out a yawn, he grabbed a fallen fruit and devoured it quickly. Feeling as well as he could after all the time in these strange lands.
Leonard decided to venture out, even in the rain, beyond that spot. This dream, though bringing sad memories, also reminded him that he had a home and people waiting for him.
After walking a little away from the tree, the rain mysteriously stopped and a clear sky filled the space. He was incredulous.
"What?! How does this make sense? It rained for hours and suddenly stopped after just a few steps? No… Could it be?"
He took a few steps back toward the tree, and immediately, the rain returned, falling hard again. Leonard was stunned.
"How is this possible? There were even thunderclaps! This makes no sense… What a strange place…"
He pinched his cheek a few times to make sure he was awake. Confirmed, he tried to put the pieces together and reason what was happening.
"When I reached the tree, it was starting to rain, I'm absolutely sure of that, so… Why does it keep raining when I'm close and stops when I'm away? Could it be the tree's influence before?"
With no answers to his many questions, Leonard had only one thing to say about it all, a sincere, simple, and complete thought:
"What madness!"
He followed a trail among the red oak trees, all ordinary, none resembling the one that had sheltered him. Still, the place remained shrouded in mystery. Questions grew in his mind, but Leonard felt relieved not to encounter the terrifying creatures he had faced before.
None of it made sense; he didn't find any other tree like that one along the whole walk, searching for answers about where he was. Hours passed and the questions persisted, but still… It was better not to meet any terrifying creatures like those he'd seen in the long canyon when he arrived or those damned flowers that tried to devour him.
That day brought no answers, only a long trail that would eventually lead to a lake whose water seemed untainted — or at least didn't refuse to be drunk from, for reasons unknown.
Hours later, he found a lake. The water looked pure and clear, a rarity in that strange world. He observed the landscape around him, where birds of bizarre anatomy rested in the trees.
Still, there was something he couldn't ignore — the feeling of being watched at every moment, at times.
Sometimes he felt observed, not knowing from where or why, but for Leonard, that was one of the smaller problems at the moment. By nightfall, he still hadn't found a place to sleep and, unlike the day, he knew strange things probably happened in that grim place at night.