Moment

October 7, 2022

Danielle was to be found sitting on her favourite bench. The towers of NeoPerth towered above her on the seventh level, just above the Pits. The tower pinnacles were lost in the heat haze that hung above her like a field, separating her kind from the privileged and elite who pretended everyone else did not exist.

For this moment, a bare week, Danielle could forget the greyness of NeoPerth and just be with the one thing that broke the monotony. She tilted her face, still baring the signs of her Japanese ancestry, even after generations of her family being in this land, once called Down Under. She took in the fine shades and details of the petals that made a pale cloud of pink on a background dark and dim with greyness.

The tree, a Somei Yoshino, would only bloom for a week and no more. It reminded Danielle that even the world as she knew it was changing. Nothing was permanent. This was a fleeting moment in time, the end of which would bring new opportunities and new dreams. For a few days, Danielle could marvel in the ephemeral blossoms in her favourite place, telling her that life was change. Nothing would stay the same.

The young girl stood up to leave. She had work to get to. She touched the tree's trunk lightly, a silent promise to return the next day. The tree drew her back, even as she walked away to rejoin the realities of her life. She had a connection with the last remaining sakura in NeoPerth. The very thing that made the tree special pulled at her heart each time she parted company with it.