~Amidst the sepia tones, withheld sorrow, my love blooms timeless, Red.~

 Maria gathered the untouched plates from the table where Yoru's appetite was lost the night before. "Get up move aside." - started to do the chores as always. Leans on to change the bedsheets, the soft glow of the afternoon sun falling on her face. Yoru, quite unusually, unfolded the fresh sheets from the other side and tucked them under the matress. Today it seemed like, both shared an understanding, "Could these be signs of recovery, what could he be up to" she thought. Through the silent reassurance that even the mundane tasks could be laced with moments of connection, Yoru's feelings burdened by his own shadows, felt the weight of his worries lift if only for a fleeting moment. 

"Here, you want me to peel the apples for you?"  she asked almost as stern and persistent because Yoru had'nt eaten anything from last night. "No" he answered aware that he will have to eat them howsoever. Yoru seated on the study table accepted the plate, before eating each slice, carefully took out the seeds from them and collected them on the sides of the plate. Maria assured seeing him eat, as she leaned down to gather the clothes for laundary, her hands felt something unexpected beneath the bed, a cookie box, a forgotten old box concealed in the shadows, the one in which were kept the old photos. However the box felt heavy for the same, recovering fron nostalgia Maria opened the box to find presevered apple seeds in them. After a moment of thought and recovery, she looked at Yoru's face, resting on the study table. Scenes of fresh red blood, and Yoru covered in it flashed through her mind, which were not much time back but only some months. 

"No more apples for you from now on, you're better off on injections" she said. 

~The apple seeds that store the potential of building orchards, yet embrace the despair of ruins and death.~