Dahlia and the Garden of Light - Chapter 65: Chapter 65

The Anderson Estate – Late Autumn
The Anderson family home was quiet again.
Antonio stood beneath the willow in the back garden, watching its golden leaves drift into the koi pond. The flowers from Dahlia’s first bloom still grew here, blooming unnaturally even in the chill.
Eliot came out onto the porch. “The last data fragment Markus sent—it had something.”
Antonio turned, eyebrows raised.
“A trace. Not concrete, but strong enough. Female. Four years old. Born in Eastern India. Glow sighted once. Locals thought it was a ghost.”
Antonio exhaled deeply. “So she exists.”
Christian walked up beside Eliot. “And she’s exactly Dahlia’s age when we found her.”
Theo pushed the door open next, holding a tablet. “I’ve already prepped drones and local tech scouts. Markus has people helping.”
Antonio nodded slowly, then stared out over the hills. “Good. Keep the line open.”
Inside, William sat near the fire. His eyes were slightly glassy, a blanket wrapped around his legs. Amy knelt beside him, gently tucking a new bloom behind his ear.
“I’m not fading yet,” he grumbled softly. “Just aging. Like a good tree.”
Amy smiled. “You’re more like the whole forest, Grandpa.”
He patted her hand. “Then keep planting.”
India – Edge of the Sundarbans
The air in the village was heavy with spice, heat, and prayers.
Dahlia sat on the shaded back steps of a healing shelter, her hands coated in red dust. She hummed as she pressed a mixture of petals and paste onto an old woman’s swollen ankle.
“Child,” the woman said in Bengali, “your hands… they remember something older than this world.”
Dahlia smiled softly, answering in fluent Bengali. “It’s not my hands. It’s the flowers.”
Nearby, children watched her work, whispering in awe. A boy with a cricket bat whispered to his friend:
“That’s the flower girl. I heard she talks to vines.”
“She healed my uncle’s leg,” another replied. “She sings and the petals follow.”
Inside the shelter, Derek was crouched near an open window, speaking to a family of monkeys in low tones.
“They’ve seen a girl,” he whispered as one of them chattered and pointed toward the west edge of the jungle. “About this tall. She smells like petals. Hiding with someone in red robes.”
Markus leaned in through the doorframe. “That’s the third sighting this week,” he said quietly. “We’re close.”
Derek nodded, his eyes sharp. “I can feel it.”
Later That Night – Quiet in the Jungle Camp
They made camp just beyond the edge of a temple ruin, hidden under a flowering tree Dahlia called Moonlight Umbrella.
Dahlia sat in a nest of vines, watching the stars. Markus was nearby, writing in a notebook under lantern light, while Derek fed mango peels to a small fox.
Dahlia spoke first. “You think she remembers anything?”
“Who?” Derek asked.
“The child. Orchid. If she’s like me… maybe she doesn’t even know what she is yet.”
Markus answered without looking up. “Or maybe she’s terrified, hiding, waiting for something to make her feel safe.”
Dahlia looked toward the dark jungle. “Like I was.”
Derek stood and came to sit beside her. “We’ll find her. And when we do, you’ll be the one she trusts first.”
She smiled faintly. “That would be nice.”
Markus closed his notebook and finally looked at them. “It’s not just about finding her. It’s about what comes next. If she exists… someone knew. Someone placed her here. Someone might come back.”
Dahlia’s face darkened. “Then we protect her. Like you protected me.”
On the Road – Amy and Jack’s Journey
Somewhere in Brazil, near the ruins of an illegal logging site, Amy and Jack handed out small vials of pressed flower extract to villagers displaced by smoke and corporate greed.
“She sent these from the island,” Amy explained gently to a crying mother. “Just a few drops on the tongue. It helps the lungs.”
Jack set up another solar lantern. “We’ll stay for the night. We’ve got more petals. Let the kids rest.”
Later that night, a group of teenagers gathered near the fire and asked questions.
“Did you really know her?” one girl asked Amy.
“She used to braid my hair,” Amy said, smiling softly. “She sang to plants until they danced.”
“Is she still like that?”
Amy paused. “She’s more. She remembers everything now.”
Another boy asked Jack, “Is she dangerous?”
Jack’s expression hardened. “Only to people who try to break the world.”
India – Near the Temple Cliff
Two days later.
Markus returned from a scout run with two locals: a teacher and a streetwise boy named Pranav.
“She was here,” Pranav said, breathless. “A girl with eyes like fireflies. She was with a woman in red robes. She picked flowers from the same place every night.”
The teacher added, “She never spoke. Just watched. Like she was waiting.”
Dahlia’s heart pounded. “Which way did they go?”
“North. Toward the village with no name.”
Derek’s eyes lit up. “We’ll follow at sunrise.”
Anderson Estate – William’s Room
That night, William coughed into a handkerchief. Lillian sat by his side again, humming one of Dahlia’s lullabies.
“I’ve lived a long time,” William murmured. “But if I can live to see Dahlia return with that child…”
“You will,” Lillian whispered.
“I hope she teaches her everything she knows,” he said, looking at the fire. “And I hope… the world doesn’t ask her to give it all up again.”
India – Jungle Trail, Dawn
Dahlia stood ahead of the others, her vines already curling along the trail.
Markus checked his comms. “Last data fragment pinged near the temple’s western well. I’ll circle around.”
Derek knelt, speaking quietly to a small hawk. “We’re coming for you, little sister.”
Dahlia closed her eyes. The jungle responded—subtle, slow… but something answered.
A tremble in the roots.
A flower blooming too early.
A heartbeat in the dark.
They were close now.