The Garden Beyond the Wall

When Iris moved into her late aunt’s estate, she discovered a walled garden locked with rusted chains. Townsfolk claimed the garden had been sealed for over a century after a mysterious disappearance.

One night, Iris heard humming from inside. She broke the lock and found flowers that glowed faintly under the moonlight—and a woman who claimed to have been waiting “since the last spring.”

The climax: The woman offered Iris a single seed, saying it could bloom only once in a lifetime. When Iris planted it, the garden began to fade, and she realized the woman had been part of the soil itself, kept alive by longing.