Once upon a time, there was a girl. She lived in a village next to a great forest, but no one there was waiting for her. And one day she left for the lake that lay beyond three pine-covered hills.
There grew trees so huge that their tops disappeared into the clouds. Their trunks were as thick as two arm-spans, rough and warm. The girl undressed, because her clothes suddenly felt tight and unfamiliar. She sat down on the sand by the water's edge, wrapped her arms around her knees, and grew quiet.
The lake was calm. It didn't ask why she was alone. It simply lay before her, gray in the shadows and silver near the horizon.
"I am waiting," the girl said softly.
"For whom?" asked the old pine tree, the one closest to the water.
"For someone who will see me as I truly am," she answered. "Without clothes, without words, just as I am."
Photography, 2026
