Carlos hadn’t seen Elizabeth in a while, and he missed her.

For a brief moment he wondered how he might find her again.

Then a simple thought occurred to him.

Just think of her.

And suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Carlos found himself standing in front of a small house at 13 Locksley Lane.

He stared at the address quietly for a moment before walking up to the front door and rapping his knuckles softly against it.

A short redheaded old woman answered the door.

Her curly hair immediately reminded Carlos of Elizabeth, and for one strange moment, a quiet sadness passed through him. Some small part of him feared that this might somehow be Elizabeth herself, older than he remembered, distant in a way he couldn’t explain.

Carlos quickly pushed the thought aside.

“Is Elizabeth around?” he asked politely.

The old woman smiled warmly.

“Give me one moment.”

She disappeared back into the house while Carlos waited awkwardly near the doorway.

A moment later she returned, smiling even wider now.

“Yes, she’s here. Give her a moment.”

Carlos stepped inside carefully while the old woman busied herself nearby, humming quietly to herself with an excitement she seemed unable to fully hide.

The house felt unusually tidy.

Comfortable.

Lived in.

Carlos shifted nervously and accidentally bumped into a small table beside him.

A vase tipped sideways and fell onto the floor with a sharp crack.

“Oh no—”

Carlos quickly crouched down, horrified, but the vase had not shattered completely. A long fracture stretched along one side of it.

The old woman simply picked it up calmly.

“Don’t worry, Carlos,” she said gently. “I’ll have this fixed up in no time.”

She carried the vase into the adjacent room and placed it carefully onto a pottery wheel already cluttered with bits of clay and unfinished pieces.

Carlos watched quietly as she pressed fresh wet clay into the fracture with practiced hands, sealing the crack almost effortlessly.

“I’m really sorry,” Carlos said, his voice wavering slightly.

“Nonsense,” the old woman replied softly. “It’s nothing really.”

Carlos stood there silently while she finished repairing the vase, humming quietly all the while.

Then, just as she finished smoothing the last bit of clay into place, Elizabeth rounded the corner and tapped twice against the wall behind her.

Carlos frowned slightly.

Something about her felt… off somehow.

Not wrong exactly.

Just distant.

Almost immediately, the old woman vanished.

And just as suddenly, Elizabeth brightened completely.

“Carlos!” she squealed happily.

Relief washed through him so suddenly that only then did Carlos realize how tense he had been.

Elizabeth hurried over and grabbed his hand excitedly.

“I’ve got chickens and roosters!” she exclaimed.

Before Carlos could even respond, she was already pulling him toward the back door.

Outside, she eagerly showed him a garden overflowing with vegetables, along with a small coop nearby filled with chickens wandering noisily around the yard.

“Isn’t it marvelous?” she asked.

Carlos exhaled softly.

He had never seen this side of her before.