Elias Thorne (67, retired botanist with a penchant for conspiracy theories) stared at the antique rotary phone, its Bakelite casing warm under his fingertips. He’d received an anonymous postcard – a single, cryptic number scrawled across the front: 555-1776. The number wasn’t local; the area code suggested a small town in Montana, a place he’d…
Boateng (a botanist with a penchant for obscure wildflowers) – (a quiet observer with a deep connection to nature) trekked deeper into the Whisperwood, her worn leather boots crunching on fallen leaves. Sunlight, fractured by the dense canopy, dappled the forest floor, illuminating the vibrant hues of fungi sprouting from decaying logs. She hummed a…
(Leo – 15 years old, fiercely independent, with a talent for sketching) learned the truth accidentally, overhearing his parents’ hushed conversation. His birth certificate, tucked away in a dusty box, revealed the stark reality: he was adopted. His siblings – (Mia – 18, the responsible one; Ben – 17, the athletic one; and Chloe –…
