Himawari Wa Yoru Ni Saku <Free>

She didn't report it.

A child wandered down one night and saw the flowers. She didn't scream. She sat down in the middle of the golden light and laughed. Himawari Wa Yoru Ni Saku

The night after that, a foot.

The sunflowers didn't care.

A pale green curl, no bigger than a fingernail, pushing up through the soil. Oriko knelt beside it, her breath fogging the cold air. She touched the stem. It was warm. She didn't report it

On the twenty-first night, it bloomed.

Oriko turned off her headlamp.