Every sunset ended in the same garden.

People simply didn't notice.

To them, the sky became dark.

To the sun itself, however, the day did not end until it quietly rested inside a vast garden beyond the horizon.

The garden had no walls.

Only countless stone paths winding through endless flowers.

Every flower bloomed in a different hour.

Some blossomed at six in the morning.

Others waited until midnight.

One tiny flower opened only once every hundred years, and only if someone smiled nearby.

There was only one gardener.

Her name was Mira.

No one had hired her.

She simply woke up there one morning carrying a silver watering can that never became empty.

She never questioned it.

Every evening, as the last rays of sunlight drifted into the garden, she welcomed them home.

Each ray became a glowing bird.

The birds perched among the flowers, chirping melodies that sounded suspiciously like laughter heard through an open window.

One evening, while sweeping golden leaves from a marble bridge, Mira noticed someone sleeping beneath a cherry tree.

A young traveler.

Curled up peacefully.

Using a backpack as a pillow.

Mira quietly approached.

"You'll catch sunset if you sleep there."

The traveler opened one eye.

"I was hoping to."

"You've been here before?"

"I don't think so."

"But you don't seem surprised."

The traveler looked around.

Thousands of lanterns floated among the branches.

Beyond them stretched fields of flowers that gently glowed from within.

Far away stood dozens of staircases climbing into empty clouds.

There were no buildings attached.

Only staircases.

"I've had dreams like this."

Mira smiled.

"Then you've visited."

They spent the evening walking together.

The paths changed whenever they weren't looking.

Sometimes they were made of smooth white stone.

Sometimes polished wood.

Sometimes flowing water that felt solid beneath their feet.

No matter which direction they walked, they always arrived where they intended to go.

At the center of the garden stood a single enormous tree.

Its leaves were tiny mirrors.

Each reflected a different sunset from a different world.

A crimson desert.

A snowy mountain.

A city floating beneath the sea.

A village built inside a giant seashell.

The traveler reached toward one mirror.

Instead of glass, it rippled like a pond.

"What happens if I step through?"

"You'll arrive exactly five minutes before someone needs you."

"What if nobody needs me?"

Mira looked thoughtfully at the leaves.

"Then perhaps someone is simply hoping you'll arrive."

A gentle breeze carried thousands of flower petals into the sky.

Instead of falling back down, they remained suspended.

Little islands of pink floating overhead.

Birds built nests upon them.

Clouds drifted underneath.

Evening slowly deepened.

The birds made from sunlight returned one by one.

Not to sleep.

To become stars.

They gently lifted into the night sky.

One after another.

The constellations slowly rearranged themselves.

The traveler watched quietly.

"So..."

"...every star..."

Mira nodded.

"...was once today's sunlight."

Neither of them spoke for a while.

The silence felt complete.

Not empty.

Complete.

Eventually the traveler sighed.

"I suppose morning is waiting."

"It usually is."

"Will I remember this?"

Mira picked a tiny blue flower growing beside the path.

She tucked it into the traveler's coat pocket.

"You won't remember the garden."

She looked toward the endless horizon where tomorrow's sunrise was already quietly growing.

"But someday you'll see a sunset..."

"...and suddenly feel like you're almost home."

The traveler smiled.

"I think that's enough."

Morning arrived without ever becoming bright.

Instead, the entire garden gently folded itself into a single golden flower.

The flower drifted upward.

Higher.

Higher.

Until it became the rising sun.

Far below, somewhere in an ordinary world, people looked east.

Another beautiful morning, they thought.

None of them knew...

...they were watching a garden bloom.