Dream d3593-s: Apples for the Bare Bed

I had a dream where...

I had a dream where the orchard track ran between two rows of old trees, their branches still carrying the late-season cold even where the fruit had been taken. The ground was soft from recent rain, and my footsteps pressed into it with a small sound each time, so I was aware of how little I disturbed.

The wall ran along the eastern edge of the track - stone, chest-high, with a bed of turned earth at its base. Most of the bed had been worked. I could see the dark evidence of seed laid in: ridges pressed and smoothed, a particular care in the spacing. But there was a stretch near the corner, perhaps two arm-lengths, that had not been touched. The soil there was pale at the surface, dry-looking despite the recent rain, and nothing had been pressed into it.

I stopped. Lano had been moving ahead of me along the wall, her nose low, tracking something through the damp grass. She paused when I did, glanced back once, then returned to her investigation without urgency.

I looked at the bare stretch. I looked for what was needed. There was no tool left nearby, no marker, no sign of someone having planned to return. The gap was simply there - finished on both sides, unfinished in the middle. A sentence with one word missing.

Then, from the gap in the hedge at the track's far end, a figure came through carrying a basket. The basket was woven with a wide mouth, and inside it seed apples had been packed loosely, the kind kept through winter for cutting and planting - small, a little desiccated, the seeds still good. The figure moved at a steady pace that suggested they had been planning this walk for some time, had gathered what was needed before setting out.

I did not call out or wave them over. I took one more look at the bare bed and then stepped back to the middle of the track to leave room at the wall. Lano came to stand beside me, her shoulder pressing against my knee, watching the approaching figure with calm attention.

The carrier set the basket down at the bare corner. They did not look for me. They knew what the bed required.

I stood in the quiet of the orchard and watched them work the first seeds in.

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Artwork instructions

IMAGE PROMPT: pixel art a human figure at the orchard track, a basket of seed apples, The dreamer notices the need before anyone offers a solution., muted slate and ochre, soft daylight, 8-bit style