Chapter 65 : Everyone is Selfish
Ben wouldn't let it go.
Even after they resumed their walk—feet pressing into a forest path softened by dew and wild moss, where light spilled through the canopy in golden slants—his mind was a drumbeat of what-ifs and now-or-nevers.
Valerie and Pete walked just ahead, chatting casually as if the weight of destiny weren't pressing on all their shoulders. They spoke of trees and squirrels—trees Valerie tried to name with a kind of scholarly pride, and squirrels Pete claimed were secretly plotting to overthrow the kingdom.
"I'm just saying," Pete insisted, gesturing to a chubby gray blur scampering up a branch, "you've never seen one blink. That's how you know they're up to something."
Valerie rolled her eyes. "They blink, you just don't pay attention."
"No, no. They don't. You think they're chewing acorns, but really they're carving tiny weapons in there. One day we'll wake up and the forest will be under their control. You'll see."
