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He realizes and releases me immediately. Even now.

Choice. Always.

I touch the corn but nothing happens. I peel the husk slowly and the green leaves fall away.

Rhett moves closer.

Malakai holds his breath.

Ezra mutters something that sounds suspiciously like prayer.

The final layer opens.

Yellow kernels.

Normal.

Beautiful. Boring.

I laugh. “Oh my God.”

Rhett exhales.

Malakai smiles.

Ezra’s shoulders drop.

“It’s corn.”

“Yes.”

I almost cry. “It’s just fucking corn.”

Then one kernel in the center turns red.

All four of us stop.

“Of course,” I whisper.

The red kernel splits. Something green emerges. Not a root.

A tiny shoot. It unfurls into a flower. Growing directly from the corn.

Small and white.

I stare.

Malakai touches my shoulder. “Sage.”

“What is it?”

His voice is quiet. “I’ve never seen one.”

Great. “Fantastic.”

The flower opens showing a seed inside.

One.