26/03/2026
The Tree That Listens to Secrets — Part 2
Amara’s heart began to pound like a village drum during a festival. She held the old copper coin tightly in her palm and slowly turned toward the shadow standing across the clearing.
The moon slipped from behind the clouds, and its pale light revealed the figure of an old man wrapped in a dark cloth. His beard was long and silver, and his walking stick looked as twisted and ancient as the roots of the Listening Tree itself.
“Who are you?” Amara asked, her voice trembling.
The old man stepped closer, his eyes fixed on the coin in her hand. “I am only a keeper of forgotten stories,” he said softly. “And that coin you hold… belongs to the tree.”
Amara looked down at the coin again. It felt warm now, almost alive.
“The tree gave it to me,” she said.
The old man sighed deeply and sat on one of the giant roots. “Then the tree has chosen you,” he murmured.
Amara’s eyes widened. “Chosen me for what?”
The wind gently shook the branches above them, and the leaves whispered together like people sharing secrets.
“Long ago,” the old man began, “this tree was planted to guard the secrets of the village. Every secret told beneath its branches became part of its roots. But some secrets were too heavy… too powerful.”
Amara listened carefully.
“One secret in particular was locked away,” the man continued. “It was sealed with three copper coins. When someone pure of heart finds the first coin, the tree begins to reveal the truth hidden for generations.”
Amara slowly opened her palm and stared at the coin again.
“But what truth?” she asked.
The old man looked toward the village in the distance. His voice became quieter.
“The truth about why some people left… and why some never returned.”
Amara’s chest tightened as she remembered the question she had whispered to the tree about her father.
“The first coin awakens the story,” the man said. “But two more coins are hidden beneath the roots of this land. When they are found, the Listening Tree will finally speak the full secret.”
Suddenly, the coin in Amara’s hand glowed faintly.
At the same moment, a deep rumble echoed from inside the tree trunk.
The old man stood quickly, his eyes wide with worry.
“It has begun sooner than I feared,” he said.
Cracks of soft golden light began to appear along the bark of the great tree.
Amara stepped back in shock.
“What is happening?” she whispered.
The old man looked at her with a serious expression.
“The tree is waking,” he said. “And once it wakes fully, every secret buried in this village will rise to the surface.”
A strong wind rushed through the clearing, and the glowing cracks in the tree grew brighter.
Amara clutched the coin again, realizing something that made her stomach twist.
Some secrets were never meant to be heard.
And yet, the Listening Tree had chosen her to hear them all.
To be continued…
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