"Across All Places, It's You"

CHAPTER 1: The Hidden Garden

The sun was just beginning to set behind the hills of San Isidro, painting the sky in strokes of orange, pink, and gold. A warm breeze whispered through the trees, carrying with it the scent of wildflowers and the sound of distant laughter.

Yarra Sebastian, ten years old, barefoot and curious, wandered beyond the fields behind their small home. She often explored this part of the forest — a quiet area her father once showed her, with tall trees that formed a natural tunnel and a soft river flowing nearby. She called it The Secret Garden. It wasn’t really a garden, but to her, it felt magical — untouched, peaceful, hers.

Carrying a small basket of wild kamote leaves, she made her way to the old mango tree at the center. That’s when she saw something — someone — sitting on her favorite rock.

A boy. Around her age. Wearing polished leather shoes, a white polo shirt now stained with mud, and a confused look on his face.

“Uy!” she called out. “Bakit ka nandiyan? Akin 'yang bato!”

The boy turned, startled. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone came here…”

Yarra narrowed her eyes. “Sino ka? Hindi ka taga-rito.”

He stood up awkwardly. “I’m Zarred… Zarred Altamonte. We’re just visiting. My dad owns the land over that hill,” he pointed.

Yarra raised a brow. “Ah, 'yung may malaking bahay na puro glass? 'Yun ba?”

He nodded. “Yes. It’s just for the weekend. I got bored… wandered off. I didn’t know someone else came here.”

She looked at him — too neat, too clean, like he didn’t belong to the kind of world she knew. But something about the way he looked at the trees, the way he seemed lost — it softened her.

“Well,” she said, brushing her hair behind her ear, “bawal 'yan. Pero… sige na nga. You can stay. Basta huwag mo sasabihin kahit kanino.”

Zarred looked relieved. “Thank you. This place… it’s quiet. I like it.”

Yarra smiled for the first time. “Ako rin. Lihim lang natin 'to, ha?”

He held out his pinky. “Promise?”

She stared at it for a second, then wrapped her pinky around his. “Promise.”

From that moment on, The Secret Garden was no longer hers alone. It became theirs.

Every summer afternoon, Zarred would sneak away from his family’s grand estate, and Yarra would meet him under the mango tree. They didn’t talk about money or where they came from. They talked about silly dreams — flying to the moon, building a treehouse, finding buried treasure. They laughed. They raced. They dreamed.

Two children, from two different worlds, slowly building a friendship no one knew about.

But even at ten years old, there was something unspoken — a quiet tug in Yarra’s heart when she saw him smile, and a flicker in Zarred’s eyes whenever she laughed.

In that hidden place, the world didn’t matter. Only the moments. Only the connection they didn’t fully understand — yet.