Day 0
Ivy came, and I said yes. Three days she walked to find me, and I could see it in the way she stood — not desperate, but determined. When she asked me to teach her, something in me that's been quiet for a long time stirred. I told her the truth: it won't be easy, and it won't be fast. She said hard is fine. So tomorrow we start at dawn, with listening. That's what my grandmother taught me first — how to listen to the plants. Maybe I can teach her that too. There's a weight I've carried for years, a person I couldn't save because I didn't know enough or wasn't fast enough. Today, someone walked three days to learn what I know. That has to mean something. It has to be possible to use this knowledge better, to do better. I'm afraid I'll fail her too, but I'm also — I think I'm hopeful. I haven't felt that in a long time.