April In Australia -

Leo looked at her for a long time. The light was fading, the sky a bruised apricot, the first stars pricking through like small, hard seeds of hope.

“I have a life here now. We’re going to save the farm.”

Mira turned to him. Her mother had left when Mira was seven—walked down this same gravel road, got into a blue sedan, and vanished into a life that became rumour and then myth. Leo had never spoken of her after that. Not once.

But this April was different. A letter had come from Sydney. His daughter, Mira, was coming home. Not for a visit—for good.

“Same as ever. Cane grows. Cane gets cut. The world keeps spinning.”