It was Sol.
But not the Sol he had found on the beach.
Not the Sol from the wooden bird.
Not the white-haired boy.
This child looked younger than all of them.
He had no pendant.
No carved bird.
No silver thread.
Only a small wooden key resting against his chest.
The man closed the book.
"Do you know what happens when you make a promise to a tree?" he asked.
The child shook his head.
The man leaned closer.
"It remembers."
The child smiled.
"Forever?"
"Forever."
The tree growing through the ceiling began to tremble.
The little room filled with silver light.
Then the child asked a question.
"Father?"
"Yes?"
"If the tree remembers everything, can it remember things that never happened?"
The man went silent.
Jude felt the floor beneath him begin to tilt.
The white-haired boy looked towards the scene.
The younger Jude covered his ears.
The child with the familiar face of Sol began whispering.
"Don't answer him."
