Chapter 19 - The Sovereign HorizonSummer 2034
The summer months brought vibrant warmth and brilliant, clear skies to the Cascade foothills.
Our home in North Bend was filled with the sounds of life, music, and quiet joy. Maya, now seven years old, was finishing her second year of elementary school, excelling in art class, and spending her weekends helping me plant summer vegetables in our raised garden beds.
On a warm Sunday afternoon, while Claire prepared a fresh batch of lemonade in the kitchen, Maya ran out onto the back patio holding a bright yellow painting on heavy construction paper.
"Mommy! Look! I painted our house!" Maya beamed, holding up the artwork.
In the center of the paper was a bright, cheerful craftsman house surrounded by tall green pine trees, a brilliant yellow sun shining down from a vast blue sky, and two stick figures standing side by side on the front porch.
I knelt down, wrapping my arms around my daughter, my heart swelling with a deep, unbreakable tide of love and peace.
"It's the most beautiful house in the world, sweetie," I whispered, kissing the top of her dark curls.
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"And nobody can ever knock it down, right?" Maya asked innocently, looking up with her big, dark eyes.
"Nobody," I promised, my voice steady, clear, and absolute. "Never."
