"Look at this one," Julian said, zooming into the picture. It showed a red-leafed tree, its branches long and delicate, leaning slightly to one side like it was bowing to the wind. The background was misty with soft light streaking through the trees, and the ground was covered in fallen crimson petals like scattered rubies.
Karl's mouth dropped open.
"Wait, this… this is real?!" he asked, grabbing the phone and pulling it closer to his face. "You sure this isn't some filter like Soulstream shows?!"
Julian laughed. "No, no. This is exactly how it looked. We didn't touch a thing."
Karl was stunned. "I've only seen trees like that on postcards, or in the fancy city gardens and beach… and even those are rare." His voice dropped into a mutter as he stared at the image. "No wonder that village is so rich in herbs and flowers… meanwhile, our village just has dust and the occasional weird weed growing through the cracks…"
