The Friday Fictioneer challenge: Write a 100-word story based on the photo.
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Friday Fictioneer photo prompt. Copyright Janet Webb

The Soul of the Garden

Running steps thunder atop the path. Little arms push through brittle twigs and branches as white puffs of breath ascend and dissipate. Ice falls onto hats and coats, melting when coming in contact with children’s faces and hands. Echoes of their laughter seep into the leaves, stems and trunks, sinking through the roots, igniting a spark of time, of change, of warmth, of hope.

This message travels beneath the frozen earth, down and across, across and down, reaching all life in its suspended, wintry state. The soul of the garden awakens to the music of children’s laughter. Spring is nigh.
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