"You don't have to decide this now."
"Yes, I do."She looked at the broken treehouse, the destroyed land, the mess of her home."Because if I don't decide right now, I'll give up.And I'm not giving up."She met his eyes."I'm not going anywhere."
Jin's expression shifted to surprise, admiration and something deeper."Then we'll help you rebuild."
"We?"
"The town.My family.Me."He stepped closer."You're not alone this time, Wren.You have people."
Walter appeared from the root cellar—apparently he'd come back early to survey the damage.
"Madam!Oh thank goodness you're here!"He scurried up to her shoulder."The house is a disaster, but it's fixable.And the cellar is intact!Your stored goods survived!"
Small mercies.And it wasn’t as if she were really starting from scratch, with a wealth of experience to draw on.
Wren looked at the destruction one more time.Then she reached into her purse and pulled out a seed.Breadfruit.She'd start with food.
"Here we go," she said quietly, and planted it in the mud."Grow."
Inspiration
––––––––
WREN WALKED THROUGHthe destruction slowly, Jin and Walter following at a respectful distance.
Every step squelched in mud.Monster tracks were everywhere, with massive three-toed prints, claw marks and places where the earth had been churned to soup.
But it was thepatternthat caught her attention.The tracks didn't go everywhere randomly.They followed paths.Lanes.The monsters had flowed around obstacles, taken the easiest routes, and moved like water finding channels.
She stopped at what had been her kitchen garden and looked at the tracks.Then at the broken treehouse.Then at the crushed remains of her trees.
"Wren?"Jin's voice was careful.Concerned."We should get you back to town.You can rest and make a plan."
"They flow," she said quietly.
"What?"
