Chapter 1882

The older Jude hesitated.

"They came later."

The woman looked at him.

"You are making it sound as if I created a prison."

"You did."

"I created a home."

"You created a place where nothing could leave."

The woman’s expression hardened.

"I created a place where nobody would be alone."

The smallest Sol looked at her.

"But we were alone."

The woman turned towards him.

The child continued.

"We were inside the room. You were outside. Father was outside. We couldn’t reach anyone."

The woman looked away.

The older Jude lowered his voice.

"The first promise was made because the children wanted to leave the room together. But when the door opened, only one crossed."

Jude looked at the two boys.

"And the other remained?"

The older man nodded.

"The one who remained became the first memory the tree could never release."

The child in the doorway spoke.

"I wasn’t a memory."

The older Jude looked at him.

"I know."

"I was a person."

"I know."

"Then why did you leave me?"

The older man had no answer.

The boy looked towards Jude.

"You always leave."

Jude felt the words strike him.

He knelt.

"I’m here now."

The child looked at him.

"For how long?"

Jude did not know what to say.

The smallest Sol moved closer.

"He came back for me."

The other child looked at him.

"You think he came back for you?"

The smallest Sol nodded.

The child gave a sad smile.

"He came back because the door called him."

Jude stood.

"Both of you are coming with me."

The two children looked at him.

The woman suddenly stepped forward.

"No!"

Jude turned.

"You don’t get to decide that."

"They cannot leave together."

"Why?"

"Because the room will open completely."

The older Jude nodded.

"She is right."

Jude looked at him.

"Then what are we supposed to do? Leave one of them here again?"

The older man looked towards the doorway.

"If both children cross the same threshold, the thing outside will enter."

The faceless shape moved closer.

The room shook.

The woman raised her hands.

The silver threads tightened.

"Do you hear it?" she whispered. "It has waited for this moment since the first promise."

The voice came again.

"Open the room."

The woman looked at Jude.

"You must choose."

"No."

"You must."

"I won’t."

"Then everyone will be taken."

Jude looked at the twelve women.

They were not in the little room, but he could hear them calling from somewhere beyond the walls.

He heard Layla.

Then Susan.

Then Serena.

Then the others.

Their voices were getting closer.

The smallest Sol looked towards the door.

"They’re coming."

Jude turned.

"Who?"

"The promises."

The wooden walls began to glow.

A faint tapping sounded from the window.

Then another.

Then another.

Jude looked outside.

Twelve figures stood in the darkness.

They looked like the twelve women.

But they were younger.

Their clothes were different.

Their faces were familiar, yet somehow untouched by time.

They stood beneath a tree that had not yet grown.

One of them raised her hand.

The woman inside the room gasped.

"No."

The twelve figures approached the window.

The first placed her palm against the glass.

The second stood beside her.

Then the third.

One by one, they gathered.

The figure who resembled Layla looked towards Jude.

Her lips moved.

He could not hear her.

Then the glass became transparent.

And Jude saw the world beyond.

It was not the forest.

It was not the island.

It was a small clearing beneath an enormous dark sky.

The tree was only a seedling.

The first house did not exist.

The ground was empty.

And standing beside the seedling was a man.

He was holding a child.

Jude recognised the man’s face.

It was his own.

But he looked younger than the older Jude.

Much younger.

The child in his arms was the smallest Sol.

Beside him stood another child.

The one from the doorway.

The man lowered himself to the ground.

He placed the two children beside the seedling.

Then he spoke.

"Stay here."

Jude’s breath caught.

The child in the doorway whispered:

"That’s him."

The older Jude stared at the window.

"No."

The man outside looked towards the children.

He smiled.

Then he walked away.

The two children remained beneath the seedling.

The smaller one began crying.

The other held his hand.

The woman in the room began trembling.

"Close the window."

Jude looked at her.

"Who is that?"

She didn’t answer.

"Who is that man?"

The older Jude stepped closer to the glass.

His face had become pale.

"It’s not possible."

The man outside stopped walking.

He turned.

And looked directly at Jude.

Then he raised one hand.

The image changed.

The seedling grew.

The tree became enormous.

The house appeared.

The island formed.

The village grew.

The twelve women stood around the firepit.

And Jude saw himself standing beside them.

But this time, there was something different.

He was not holding the smallest Sol.

He was holding the wooden bird.

The man outside the window spoke.

"Now you remember."

The glass cracked.

The image vanished.

The room became dark.

The older Jude stumbled backwards.

The woman looked at Jude.

"You must not believe what you saw."

"Why?"

"Because it was not the beginning."

"What was it?"

"A memory."

"Whose?"

The woman did not answer.

The smallest Sol looked towards the door.

Then he whispered:

"Mine."

The child in the doorway nodded.

"Mine too."

Jude looked at them.

"What do you mean?"

The two children stepped closer.

The one from the doorway spoke first.

"We were both there."

The smallest Sol continued.

"But we remember different things."

The first child looked towards Jude.

"I remember the man leaving."

The second looked towards the woman.

"I remember the woman staying."

The smallest Sol looked down.

"And neither of us remembers who planted the seed."

A soft sound came from the book.

Jude turned.

Its cover had opened.

The pages were blank again.

Then a line of writing appeared.

THE FIRST MEMORY WAS NOT A MEMORY.