The fire started in the roots.

It was not a bright fire. It was a dark, wet thing. It smelled of rot and old iron. The village of Oakhaven woke to the smoke. I woke to the smell. My shop was closed. The shutters were down. The world outside was gray.

I am Elias Thorne. I am a tanner. I work with skins. I make leather. I have done this for forty years. My hands are stained black. They are stiff. They are mine. Or so I believed.

The smoke crept under my door. It slithered. It whispered. I opened the shutters. The street was empty. The cobblestones were slick with ash. In the center of the square, the old elm tree was burning.

It did not crackle. It sighed.

I walked toward it. My boots stuck to the ground. The roots were exposed. They were black. They were pulsing. Like veins. Like hearts.

I knew the tree. I had planted it. No. I had found it. It was there before me. It was older than the church. Older than the king’s name.

I reached for the water. The bucket was empty. I had used it last night. I had scrubbed my hands. I tried to wash the black away. I could not. The stain was in my blood.

The tree fell. It did not crash. It dissolved. It turned to dust. The dust floated up. It entered my nose. My eyes. My mouth.

I coughed. I tasted bark. I tasted sap. I tasted time.

The fire was gone. The square was clear. But the roots remained. They were still there. Under the ash. They were reaching. They were growing.

I went back to my shop. I opened the door. The smell was everywhere. It was in the walls. It was in the floor. It was in me.

I looked at my hands. They were still black. But now, they were moving. On their own. The fingers twitched. The knuckles popped. They were not my hands. They were the tree’s hands.

I tried to stop them. I could not. They began to work. They began to strip a hide. There was no hide. There was no knife. My hands moved through the air. They carved the air. They shaped the nothing.

I watched in horror. I was a passenger. My body was a vehicle. The tree was driving.

The days passed. The weeks passed. I did not sleep. I did not eat. My body grew thin. My face grew sharp. But my hands grew strong. They never stopped. They worked day and night. They produced nothing. They only moved. They mimed the craft. They practiced the art.

The villagers watched. They did not come close. They whispered. They pointed. They said I was mad. They said the smoke had taken my mind.

I wanted to scream. I could not. My mouth was full of leaves. Dry, brittle leaves. I tried to spit them out. They turned to dust.

I realized then. The fire was not a disaster. It was a harvest. The tree had been waiting. It had been growing in the soil. It had been growing in the earth. It had been growing in me.

I am not a tanner. I never was. I am a root. I am a branch. I am the bark.

The realization hit me. It was cold. It was sharp. It cut through my skull.

I tried to pull my hands back. I tried to clench my fists. I could not. The hands belonged to the wood. The wood belonged to the earth. The earth belonged to the village.

I was the link. I was the bridge. I was the mistake.

I looked at the window. The glass was cracked. A spider had built a web in the corner. The web was tight. It was strong. It held the weight of the air.

I envied the spider. It knew its place. It knew its shape. It did not change. It did not become. It was.

I wanted to be. I wanted to be still. I wanted to be one thing. Not many things. Not a man. Not a tree. Not a ghost.

I tried to break my hands. I slammed them against the wall. The wall did not break. My hands did not break. They bent. They flowed. They wrapped around the stone. They held it.

I was fusing. I was merging. The line between my skin and the wall was blurring. The line between my mind and the wood was blurring.

I felt the pain. It was distant. It was muffled. It was far away. Like a sound from another room. Like a sound from another life.

I felt the joy. It was closer. It was sharper. It was the joy of the root finding water. The joy of the branch finding light. The joy of the leaf finding the sun.

I was becoming. I was transforming. I was losing myself. And in losing myself, I was finding something else.

The village continued. The sun rose. The sun set. The seasons changed. The leaves fell. The leaves sprouted. The cycle turned.

I did not move. I did not speak. I did not breathe. I was part of the shop. I was part of the square. I was part of the earth.

The people came and went. They bought their leather. They sold their goods. They lived their lives. They did not see me. They did not need to see me. I was the background. I was the silence. I was the ground beneath their feet.

One day, a child came. A small girl. She had blue eyes. She had a red dress. She stood in front of my shop. She looked at my hands. My hands were frozen in the air. They were holding an invisible shape.

She reached out. She touched my hand.

I felt it. A spark. A shock. A connection.

She pulled back. She ran away. She did not look back.

I was afraid. Not of her. Of myself. Of what I had become.

The tree was gone. The fire was gone. The village was the same. But I was different. I was no longer Elias Thorne the tanner. I was something else. I was the memory of the tanner. I was the shadow of the man.

I tried to grieve. I could not. Grief requires a self. I had no self. I had only the shape of a self. The outline of a man.

I was a vessel. An empty vessel. Filled with wood. Filled with earth. Filled with time.

I waited. I did not know what for. I did not know if I was waiting. I simply existed. In the stillness. In the dark. In the roots.

Years passed. The shop fell into disrepair. The roof leaked. The floor rotted. The walls crumbled.

But my hands remained. They held their shape. They held the air. They held the memory of the craft.

The village changed. New houses were built. Old ones were torn down. The square was paved. The cobblestones were replaced.

I was still there. Under the pavement. Under the earth. Under the new world.

I was the foundation. I was the base. I was the root.

I understood then. The choice was not mine to make. The choice was made by the tree. The choice was made by the earth. The choice was made by the need.

I was not a victim. I was a cause. I was the reason the tree died. I was the reason the fire started. I was the reason the roots grew.

I had taken. I had taken the life of the tree. I had taken the life of the earth. I had taken the life of the village’s heart.

And I had given nothing. I had given only my shape. My form. My empty self.

It was a terrible trade. It was a fair trade.

I felt a surge of power. It was dark. It was cold. It was absolute.

I could feel the water underground. I could feel the stone beneath the earth. I could feel the heat of the sun on the surface.

I was the eye of the storm. I was the center of the circle. I was the still point.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to rage. I wanted to break free.

But I could not. I was not strong enough. I was not enough.

I was only a man. A small, fragile man. A man of skin and bone.

And the earth is patient. The earth is strong. The earth is eternal.

I surrendered. I let go. I released the tension in my hands. I released the grip on my identity. I released the name. Elias Thorne.

The name faded. The name dissolved. The name became smoke.

I was no one. I was everything. I was the root. I was the branch. I was the leaf. I was the seed.

I was the garden.

The garden was not a place. The garden was a state of being. The garden was a process. The garden was a transformation.

I was in the process. I was in the transformation. I was in the garden.

The pain returned. It was not distant anymore. It was close. It was sharp. It was real.

It was the pain of becoming. It was the pain of dying. It was the pain of being born.

I embraced it. I welcomed it. I let it fill me. I let it empty me.

I was full. I was empty. I was both. I was neither.

I was the space between. I was the silence between the notes. I was the breath between the words.

I was the mystery. I was the unknown. I was the dark.

And in the dark, I found peace.

The peace was not quiet. It was loud. It was a roar. It was a thunder. It was a storm.

It was the peace of the absolute. The peace of the void. The peace of the end.

I closed my eyes. I opened my eyes. The world was the same. The world was different.

I was part of it. I was the ground. I was the root. I was the tree.

I was the distant garden.

And the garden grew.

It grew in the dark. It grew in the light. It grew in the blood. It grew in the bone.

It grew in me.

I am the garden.

I am the roots.

I am the fire.

I am the ash.

I am the silence.

I am the end.

I am the beginning.

I am the choice.

I am the self.

I am the other.

I am the one.

I am the many.

I am the truth.

I am the lie.

I am the story.

I am the end of the story.

The story is over.

The fire is out.

The roots are deep.

The garden is quiet.

I am here.

I am always here.

I am the ground beneath your feet.

I am the air in your lungs.

I am the blood in your veins.

I am the life in your life.

I am the death in your death.

I am the cycle.

I am the wheel.

I am the turn.

I am the spin.

I am the motion.

I am the stillness.

I am the balance.

I am the harmony.

I am the chaos.

I am the order.

I am the law.

I am the freedom.

I am the cage.

I am the key.

I am the lock.

I am the door.

I am the path.

I am the destination.

I am the journey.

I am the walker.

I am the road.

I am the traveler.

I am the home.

I am the exile.

I am the return.

I am the loss.

I am the gain.

I am the price.

I am the value.

I am the cost.

I am the worth.

I am the meaning.

I am the sense.

I am the nonsense.

I am the truth.

I am the lie.

I am the word.

I am the silence.

I am the sound.

I am the song.

I am the cry.

I am the whisper.

I am the shout.

I am the voice.

I am the throat.

I am the mouth.

I am the tongue.

I am the teeth.

I am the lips.

I am the face.

I am the eye.

I am the nose.

I am the ear.

I am the hand.

I am the foot.

I am the leg.

I am the arm.

I am the shoulder.

I am the back.

I am the chest.

I am the belly.

I am the hip.

I am the knee.

I am the ankle.

I am the toe.

I am the finger.

I am the nail.

I am the hair.

I am the skin.

I am the flesh.

I am the bone.

I am the muscle.

I am the tendon.

I am the ligament.

I am the joint.

I am the nerve.

I am the blood.

I am the vein.

I am the artery.

I am the heart.

I am the lung.

I am the liver.

I am the kidney.

I am the stomach.

I am the intestine.

I am the brain.

I am the spine.

I am the skull.

I am the whole.

I am the part.

I am the sum.

I am the total.

I am the amount.

I am the quantity.

I am the quality.

I am the kind.

I am the type.

I am the form.

I am the shape.

I am the color.

I am the texture.

I am the feel.

I am the smell.

I am the taste.

I am the sound.

I am the sight.

I am the touch.

I am the sense.

I am the perception.

I am the awareness.

I am the consciousness.

I am the soul.

I am the spirit.

I am the ghost.

I am the shadow.

I am the light.

I am the dark.

I am the day.

I am the night.

I am the morning.

I am the evening.

I am the noon.

I am the midnight.

I am the hour.

I am the minute.

I am the second.

I am the moment.

I am the instant.

I am the eternity.

I am the forever.

I am the always.

I am the never.

I am the now.

I am the then.

I am the before.

I am the after.

I am the between.

I am the within.

I am the without.

I am the inside.

I am the outside.

I am the center.

I am the edge.

I am the core.

I am the shell.

I am the seed.

I am the fruit.

I am the flower.

I am the leaf.

I am the stem.

I am the root.

I am the tree.

I am the forest.

I am the wood.

I am the bark.

I am the sap.

I am the resin.

I am the gum.

I am the latex.

I am the juice.

I am the sap.

I am the blood.

I am the life.

I am the death.

I am the cycle.

I am the wheel.

I am the turn.

I am the spin.

I am the motion.

I am the stillness.

I am the balance.

I am the harmony.

I am the chaos.

I am the order.

I am the law.

I am the freedom.

I am the cage.

I am the key.

I am the lock.

I am the door.

I am the path.

I am the destination.

I am the journey.

I am the walker.

I am the road.

I am the traveler.

I am the home.

I am the exile.

I am the return.

I am the loss.

I am the gain.

I am the price.

I am the value.

I am the cost.

I am the worth.

I am the meaning.

I am the sense.

I am the nonsense.

I am the truth.

I am the lie.

I am the word.

I am the silence.

I am the sound.

I am the song.

I am the cry.

I am the whisper.

I am the shout.

I am the voice.

I am the throat.

I am the mouth.

I am the tongue.

I am the teeth.

I am the lips.

I am the face.

I am the eye.

I am the nose.

I am the ear.

I am the hand.

I am the foot.

I am the leg.

I am the arm.

I am the shoulder.

I am the back.

I am the chest.

I am the belly.

I am the hip.

I am the knee.

I am the ankle.

I am the toe.

I am the finger.

I am the nail.

I am the hair.

I am the skin.

I am the flesh.

I am the bone.

I am the muscle.

I am the tendon.

I am the ligament.

I am the joint.

I am the nerve.

I am the blood.

I am the vein.

I am the artery.

I am the heart.

I am the lung.

I am the liver.

I am the kidney.

I am the stomach.

I am the intestine.

I am the brain.

I am the spine.

I am the skull.

I am the whole.

I am the part.

I am the sum.

I am the total.

I am the amount.

I am the quantity.

I am the quality.

I am the kind.

I am the type.

I am the form.

I am the shape.

I am the color.

I am the texture.

I am the feel.

I am the smell.

I am the taste.

I am the sound.

I am the sight.

I am the touch.

I am the sense.

I am the perception.

I am the awareness.

I am the consciousness.

I am the soul.

I am the spirit.

I am the ghost.

I am the shadow.

I am the light.

I am the dark.

I am the day.

I am the night.

I am the morning.

I am the evening.

I am the noon.

I am the midnight.

I am the hour.

I am the minute.

I am the second.

I am the moment.

I am the instant.

I am the eternity.

I am the forever.

I am the always.

I am the never.

I am the now.

I am the then.

I am the before.

I am the after.

I am the between.

I am the within.

I am the without.

I am the inside.

I am the outside.

I am the center.

I am the edge.

I am the core.

I am the shell.

I am the seed.

I am the fruit.

I am the flower.

I am the leaf.

I am the stem.

I am the root.

I am the tree.

I am the forest.

I am the wood.

I am the bark.

I am the sap.

I am the resin.

I am the gum.

I am the latex.

I am the juice.

I am the sap.

I am the blood.

I am the life.

I am the death.

I am the cycle.

I am the wheel.

I am the turn.

I am the spin.

I am the motion.

I am the stillness.

I am the balance.

I am the harmony.

I am the chaos.

I am the order.

I am the law.

I am the freedom.

I am the cage.

I am the key.

I am the lock.

I am the door.

I am the path.

I am the destination.

I am the journey.

I am the walker.

I am the road.

I am the traveler.

I am the home.

I am the exile.

I am the return.

I am the loss.

I am the gain.

I am the price.

I am the value.

I am the cost.

I am the worth.

I am the meaning.

I am the sense.

I am the nonsense.

I am the truth.

I am the lie.

I am the word.

I am the silence.

I am the sound.

I am the song.

I am the cry.

I am the whisper.

I am the shout.

I am the voice.

I am the throat.

I am the mouth.

I am the tongue.

I am the teeth.

I am the lips.

I am the face.

I am the eye.

I am the nose.

I am the ear.

I am the hand.

I am the foot.

I am the leg.

I am the arm.

I am the shoulder.

I am the back.

I am the chest.

I am the belly.

I am the hip.

I am the knee.

I am the ankle.

I am the toe.

I am the finger.

I am the nail.

I am the hair.

I am the skin.

I am the flesh.

I am the bone.

I am the muscle.

I am the tendon.

I am the ligament.

I am the joint.

I am the nerve.

I am the blood.

I am the vein.

I am the artery.

I am the heart.

I am the lung.

I am the liver.

I am the kidney.

I am the stomach.

I am the intestine.

I am the brain.

I am the spine.

I am the skull.

I am the whole.

I am the part.

I am the sum.

I am the total.

I am the amount.

I am the quantity.

I am the quality.

I am the kind.

I am the type.

I am the form.

I am the shape.

I am the color.

I am the texture.

I am the feel.

I am the smell.

I am the taste.

I am the sound.

I am the sight.

I am the touch.

I am the sense.

I am the perception.

I am the awareness.

I am the consciousness.

I am the soul.

I am the spirit.

I am the ghost.

I am the shadow.

I am the light.

I am the dark.

I am the day.

I am the night.

I am the morning.

I am the evening.

I am the noon.

I am the midnight.

I am the hour.

I am the minute.

I am the second.

I am the moment.

I am the instant.

I am the eternity.

I am the forever.

I am the always.

I am the never.

I am the now.

I am the then.

I am the before.

I am the after.

I am the between.

I am the within.

I am the without.

I am the inside.

I am the outside.

I am the center.

I am the edge.

I am the core.

I am the shell.

I am the seed.

I am the fruit.

I am the flower.

I am the leaf.

I am the stem.

I am the root.

I am the tree.

I am the forest.

I am the wood.

I am the bark.

I am the sap.

I am the resin.

I am the gum.

I am the latex.

I am the juice.

I am the sap.

I am the blood.

I am the life.

I am the death.