Hello again.
March 24, 2026 at 3:23 PM
Three years passed. Three long years during which spring no longer brought joy, and the smell of coffee and maple syrup caused only a phantom pain in her chest.
Emma had changed. She no longer wore the funny animal-print pajamas. Now, her wardrobe was dominated by structured coats and sweaters in muted tones. She had learned to live in silence, though it still felt too heavy, almost tangible.
On that day, the sky had been overcast since morning with heavy, leaden clouds. The air was electrified; it pressed against her temples, foreboding something inevitable.
Emma stood by the window in that very same kitchen. Hyacinths were blooming in pots on the windowsill—their delicate, sweet scent filled the room, competing with the smell of ozone drifting through the open vent. Flowering. A time when nature returns to life, even if your heart is still encased in ice.
The first lightning bolt cut the sky in half. Thunder crashed immediately after, making the glass in the frames rattle faintly. The storm began.
— Life is testing you, — Emma whispered, remembering the words of the old neighbor.
She had repeated them like a mantra every spring.
The rain outside turned into a solid wall of water. The wind snapped the branches of young trees, tearing away the first petals from the cherry blossoms. Emma watched this chaos, feeling something inside her snap as well. It seemed to her that this storm was the final point. That after it, nothing would remain.
The storm raged for a long time. An hour, two... And then, as suddenly as it had begun, it started to subside.
The sky began to brighten, turning an incredible pearlescent shade. The last drops of rain tapped lazily against the ledge. And in this sudden, water-washed silence, the doorbell rang.
Emma flinched. Her heart skipped a beat and then began to race. She wasn’t expecting guests. She hadn't been expecting anyone for a very long time.
She walked slowly into the hallway. Her hands were shaking—just as they had that morning when she held that ill-fated note.
Emma opened the door.
A girl stood on the threshold. Her clothes were soaked through, her blonde hair clung to her face, and water dripped from the hem of her coat, forming a puddle on the tile.
She looked exhausted, haggard, but her eyes... those same bright and gentle star-like eyes looked at Emma with such unbearable hope that it took her breath away.
— Hi, — Anna’s voice broke. — I... I came home. With the birds. Like in the song.
Anna stood there, not daring to take a step inside. She knew she had no right. She knew that three years was an eternity for someone left alone on their birthday.
Emma looked at her, and all her armor, all her hard-won coldness crumbled like flower petals after a storm. She saw that Anna had gone through her own hell, too. That her "test" had been no less difficult.
— You're late, — Emma said in a quiet, cracked voice.
Anna lowered her head, and tears began to flow down her cheeks, mixing with the rainwater.
— I know. I’ll understand if you send me away. I just wanted... to see that you’re okay.
Emma took a step forward, crossing the threshold. She reached out and touched Anna’s wet cheek. Cold. So cold.
— You’re soaked to the bone, — Emma whispered, and in her voice, that old tenderness she had hidden for so long suddenly broke through. — Come in. The coffee hasn't gone cold yet.
Anna looked up, unable to believe her luck.
— Do you... do you forgive me?
Emma smiled sadly, wiping the tears from the other girl’s face.
— The storm has passed, An. See? The flowers survived. And we did too, it seems.
She pulled Anna by the hand into the warmth of the apartment, which smelled of hyacinths and hope. The door closed, cutting off the cold world outside. The test was over.
