Alaric sighed for the third time in less than five minutes. The summer heat was already unbearable enough, but what truly bothered him walked just ahead—his parents, cheerful as if they were heading to a luxury resort. In reality, they were beginning what they called a “vacation in the countryside”, which to Alaric felt more like a punishment wrapped in a smile.

After relentless insistence, he had been dragged away from the city and into a rural area where the internet was a myth and the only sounds came from rustling trees and the distant song of birds.

The dirt road stretched ahead like a faded ochre carpet, kicking up small clouds of dust with every step. To the left, open fields faded into the horizon, and to the right, a tiny, sleepy town basked under the golden afternoon sun.

While dragging his suitcase, face marked with boredom and shoulders heavy with resignation, Alaric turned his gaze to the side—and stopped.

Something had caught his attention. Something unexpectedly beautiful.

On the other side of a weathered wooden fence, there was a small garden. It wasn’t particularly grand, but each flower seemed to have been placed with a quiet purpose. Tall sunflowers leaned gently, daisies swayed in the breeze, and little colorful buds peeked out between well-tended leaves.

And in the center of that peaceful scene, there she was.

A girl.

Her hair was white as freshly fallen snow, shimmering under the sunlight like strands of silver. She knelt between the flowers, her hands delicately tending the soil, as if silently conversing with the garden itself. Her light dress fluttered softly in the wind, and she seemed as much a part of the place as the flowers she cared for.

Alaric stood still for a moment, as if time had slowed just so he could take it all in. The image before him was so unexpected, so quietly enchanting—like a living painting framed by the countryside.

“Guess there is something beautiful around here…” he muttered to himself with a faint, surprised smile.

Then, as if waking from a dream, he heard his parents calling for him up ahead. He blinked a few times, glanced once more at the girl—who remained completely absorbed in her work, unaware of the eyes that had found her—and turned away to catch up.

But something had shifted inside him.

The countryside didn’t seem quite so empty anymore.

And that girl with the snowy hair… now lived in his curiosity.