that one day becomes…
everything.
Chapter 1. Where Light Passes Through Leaves
The morning began slowly—lazily, as if it didn’t want to wake up. The hot sun was already touching the windows, spilling amber light across the walls. A gentle breeze, borrowed from the ocean, drifted through the rooms, stirring the curtains and bringing with it the scent of salt, eucalyptus, and sun-warmed wood.
Elias Marlowe didn’t wake from noise—but from light. It danced on the ceiling, scattered into golden rabbits, leapt across his cheeks. He lay still, thinking that this morning smelled different.
And it was true—someone had moved into the house next door yesterday. The adults had said it over dinner: a family with a daughter. From the north, maybe Seattle.
He got up, walked barefoot across the wooden floor, picked up his sketchbook, and stepped outside. In his hand—ordinary pencils. He was eight, but sometimes he felt older—when he looked at the sky, listened to the cicadas crackle, or drew things no one else noticed.
The yard was warm, the grass prickled underfoot, somewhere a sprinkler hissed, and above the orange trees, bees buzzed lazily. Elias settled on the porch steps and began sketching something unclear—maybe a tree, maybe a face, maybe the morning itself.
And then he saw her.
She was sitting under a tree in the neighbor’s yard—a little way off—in a blue dress, holding a book with her knees hugged to her chest. Her honey-colored hair was loose, strands lifted by the wind, making her seem to sway like the leaves above.
She didn’t move—just ran her finger along the page’s edge.
Elias didn’t know why he couldn’t look away. Maybe it was the light. Maybe it was how quiet she was. He didn’t know. He just started to draw. Fast, like he was afraid he’d forget. His hands moved on their own, and his heart beat a little louder than usual.
He didn’t even notice that she saw him—and smiled.
The ball. It was his old blue ball, left in the yard two days ago. It suddenly rolled—wind? angle? fate?—and came to rest at her feet.
Sophia picked it up like it was an artifact from another era.
“Is this yours?” she asked. Her voice was slightly husky, but warm.
He nodded and walked over.
“I’m Elias.”
“Sophia. We moved in yesterday.”
They stood on the edge between two lawns. Her grass was thicker. His smelled like dust. He didn’t know what to say, but the ball was a good excuse to begin.