POV: Clara

At first, I thought the world had finally forgiven us.

The sky was pale and clean, the color of having been washed. The air was soft. The grass that hadn’t existed yesterday rippled in slow waves, glinting faintly as though dew had learned to glow.

It smelled like new things—wet earth, green leaves, something crisp and alive underneath it all.

Daniel stood beside me on the hill. The wind tugged at his shirt, the fabric still stained faintly with soot ...