“The Mother Tree” 2024 Fictional Flashbacks! Shortlist

There was another life before this one, she knows this for certain. A hazy memory of the place where she grew up: dusty and dry, parched by its own breath, relieved only by waves of golden sunlight. The tree across from her house was pregnant with Boab nuts. They fell from their mother tree, hitting the ground with soft powdery thuds. The end of one life cycle, the start of another. A memento, its skin holds stories, memories, dreams. A gift she carries with her, places proudly on the shelf. A portal into that other golden life she once knew.