I turned to you. We were both standing on the edge of a small hill, looking down at the ruins.

You watched, observed, seemingly impassive.

You began to trudge down the hill. Having nowhere else to go, I followed in silence.

You stopped at a spot, knelt down and began to dig a hole with your bare hands. You winced; the soil beneath the surface was still as hot as a furnace.

I came to help, and I saw a small smile formed on your face. I nodded in acknowledgement.

We finally dug a rough hole, and from your pocket you took out a single seed.

"Where did you get that?" I asked.

"Everyone has one," you said, giving me a rather mysterious smile.

You dropped the seed into the hole and covered it securely with soil.

"Step back!" you called urgently.

I barely reacted; the ground was shaking and I stumbled backwards. In place of that little mound shot up a tiny plant seedling. It grew taller, thicker – the plant –no, the tree – was growing, growing upwards –

It stopped. The gigantic tree swayed slightly in the wind from its rapid growth.

Slowly, balancing myself and recovering from the vibrations, I got to my feet. I found you on the other side of the tree.

"How did you do that?" I asked in awe.

You blinked. "But you can do it, too!" you said.

I frowned, reaching into my pockets in imitation of your actions. My fingertips touched a small smooth seed – I could almost feel it quivering with life.

"Everyone has one of those," you said again, smiling encouragingly. "Sometimes they just forget it's always there with them."

I took out my seed and looked up at your tree. It gave me hope, and that was sufficient for what I needed to do. For me to get started.

I planted my seed, and watched it shot up from the ground towards the sky like yours.

There were two humongous trees, now!

" ... There's only two," I heard a voice said sadly.

I turned. The same pale face. It was the woman I saw. Only she was much younger; she wasn't an adult yet – soon-to-be, but still a child.

"Add yours and it makes three," I invited.

Her fingers inched into the pocket of her dress. When she found it, she produced an expression of confusion and uncertainty similar to what I wore earlier.

She dropped her seed into the ground nonetheless, and I saw her face instantly flushed with colour and excitement when the seed sprouted itself above the ground and grew alongside ours.

"Did you just see that?!" she gasped in delight. There was so much happiness shining in her eyes.

I nodded repeatedly, smiling. I turned to find you, to share with you this wonderful –

Your tree still stands ... but you had gone.

* * *

There was one day I looked up at the sky. I had not done so for a long, long time ... I feared the foreboding grey, even with the hundreds of trees now surrounding where I stand.

Today, my eyes met blue ... Blue. White clouds.