Zeil starred out her kitchen window, where a large oak tree stood, hoarding all the sunshine in her back yard. She bit he lops and fiddled with her fingers as she paid attention to the glorified branch. then she heard it. the sound of her mothers laugh. Zeil straighten her back and wiped her hands on her shirt. Then Zeil narrowed her eyes. She heard it again. her mothers laugh was coming from that tree. Zeil grabbed the axe leaning against the kitchen counter and stomped outside, slamming the door as she made her way outside. Zeil swung the axe as far back as possible and slammed it into the tree with all her force. As she opened her eyes, and pulled the axe out of the thick bark, Zeil noticed that not even a dent had formed where she had landed a blow, but the bark had grown discolored, turning a magnificent gold color. Zeil then nnoticed a single leaf from the tree lying besides her foot. the leaf was the sam Gold color as the bark despite the fact that tthe leaves on the tree were all green, none showing even a sign of wilting. Zeil crouched down and slowly picked up the leaf, and just as she did, the rest of the leaves on the tree began to turn gold and fal from their branches. As one fell, Zeil stretched up her hand in an attempt to catch it before it came in contact with the ground. As the leaf landed on Zeil's palm, she felt her fingers stifffen, then her arms and eventually, her whole body stiffened, unable to move at all, Zeil's breathing gre labored and she tried to move and part of her body but was unsuccessful. eventually, Zeil's breathing halted and her body was now cover in a thick, hard golden material. As Zeil's body stood lifeless, vines came out from within the tree stump and carrried her body towards the stump. The stump then closed, encasingg Jean within it.
Inside the stump, the golden substance soften slowly.
After what seemed to be hours, the substance had fully sofften and Zeil's body was fully free.
another hour went on without a sond from Zeil, until, eventually, she let out a violent cough and took a deep breath as she did so. Zeil gently rubbed her chest, and then began to study her surroundings. Zeil notied a large door shaped carving infront of her, and began to feel around it. She slowly examined the carving and eventually found a knob shaped protrusion on it. Zeil fiddled with the protrusion until she eventually heard a click, then felt her body abruptly slip foward. Zeil hit her head as she came in contact with the ground and slipped into unconsciousness.
When Zeil woke up, she was lying in her bed with a splitting headache. Zeil pressed her palm on her forehead and genlty rubbed it. She suddenly heard a knock on her door, Zeil forced herself to sit up and cried out from her bed, "Come in."
"Are you okay, Zeill?" Zeil's mother asked as she rushed towards her daughter's side. Zeil nodded and arranged her pillow in a more comfortable position.
"Yes I'm okay." Zeil responded as she clasped her mothers hands in her own in an attempt to calm her.
Zeil's mother nodded with a faaint smile on her face, then got serious, " Zeil, what happened, what could you have you possibly been doing to have injured yourself this much?"
Zeil open her mouth but nothing came out. She could not quite remeber what she had been doing before she ws laying in her bed. She looked around her room in and attempt to jogg her memory, when she notice a golden leaf lying on her desk. She pointed at it. "I was trying to cut down the tree in the backyard because -- because -- because..."
"Because what Zeil?" Zeil's mother interrupted her. " There is not tree in in our backyard. There has never been a tree."
Zeil burst into laughter but eventually stopped when she noticed her mother was not laughing with her. "Mom, that was your favourite tree."
"I think you hit your head too hard. You should lay back down." Zel's mom said as she covered her daughter.
"Your right." Zeil replied as she settled beneath her blanket. When her mother left, Zeil quickly threw her blanket aside and walked towards where the golden leaf was lying. She picked it up, and felt a strong wind brush over her whole body, head to toe. Zeil rubbed her hands toghter in her attempt to warm herself, but before she could do anything, she found herself standing infront of the tree. this time, the tree appeared to be made entirely of rays of sunlight and its leaves were like stars hanging in the sky.
As Zeil starred at the tree with her mouth wide open, a figure came out from the tree and approached her. "Zeil, I know what you think of me, I know what you wish for my life. You whisper words of malicious intent under your breath, hoping I will not hear you. You believe yourself to be going mad because you hear the voice of your dead mother coming from the tree that she held so dear to her heart. I am Mneme, I hold the memories of you mother within my branches. I have come to give you a choice. I will allow you to spend the rest of you life in your memories creating a false reality where your mother never died, or I will allow you to live in reality, forgetting everything about your mother, apart from the fact that she existed.
Zeil stepped towarrds Mneme, "Who gave you the right to harness the life of another soul and use it to torture their loved ones?"
Mneme's brows furrowed, "A right? In this world, it is the responsibilty of man to heal, to move on from their sadness, and yet they cling to it, intoxicationg the earth with it. Grief is a sickness and I am the cure. I dont bring joy, or false understanding. I give man an inability to grieve. One can not grief what he does not remember."
Zeil dropped the leaf to the ground and turned towards Mneme. " I choose to forget my mother. In doing so, I also choose to forrget you."