The Forest Where Time Walked Backward

Those who entered the forest noticed leaves falling upward and streams running in reverse. Time itself walked backward there. An old woman entered searching for her youth, hoping to undo decades of regret. With each step, wrinkles smoothed, memories sharpened, joints strengthened. But she also felt her wisdom slipping, her identity unraveling. She reached the forest’s heart as a young girl, free of age but empty of meaning. When she tried to leave, the path forward refused her. Only by retracing her steps exactly—embracing each year, each mistake, each scar—could she regain her true self. When she finally exited, she was old again, but now she carried her years proudly, understanding that time lived backward is time wasted.