The Archive Garden

Every plant carried a name that had once been erased. Patients planted them. Families watered them. Children read the labels.

Wren planted her mother's name beside a blue flower.

Maren planted hers beneath a tree.

Aster carried no plant.

“What will you plant?” Claire asked.

“Nothing.”

“Why?”

“I am not ready to make my identity a monument.”

The garden accepted her refusal.

Room Forty-Three opened beneath the soil.