Mother puts both daughters inside the fir… See more

“It’s beautiful,” Maris whispered.

Lina nodded, though she felt something else too—a strange pull, as if the tree were watching them.

At its base was a hollow, large enough for someone to crawl inside. The opening was dark, but not completely black. Faint light filtered through cracks in the wood, creating shifting patterns inside.

“Do you think this is why Mother warned us?” Maris asked.

“Maybe,” Lina said. “Or maybe she’s just afraid.”

Before Lina could stop her, Maris stepped closer.

“Wait,” Lina said sharply. “We should go back.”

But Maris was already kneeling by the hollow, peering inside.

“It’s not scary,” she said. “It’s… warm.”

Warm.

That was not what Lina expected. Slowly, cautiously, she approached as well.

And she felt it too.

Not heat, exactly—but a kind of quiet comfort, like being wrapped in a blanket on a cold night.

“We shouldn’t be here,” Lina said, though her voice lacked conviction.

“Just for a moment,” Maris replied.

And that moment would change everything.

The Discovery
When Elara realized her daughters were gone, the air seemed to leave her lungs.

She knew where they had gone.

There was no question in her mind.

Dropping her tools, she ran toward the forest, her heart pounding with a terror she had tried for years to keep buried.

“Lina! Maris!” she called, her voice breaking through the stillness.

The forest did not answer.