“Beautiful,” Jay said.

My eyes closed. I wanted to see if I could still picture the scene before me, wanted to make sure it was safe, because I knew it would fade with each passing day.

The landscape was simple—gently rolling hills that ended where the sky began, and a few trees that stood proud and tall like guards of a kingdom.

Could you really call this beautiful? It was nothing but land and sky. What about the scene put that little catch in your throat, why did you gasp when you looked beyond the river here?

Finally I opened my eyes, in search of an answer for my question. A bluer sky I’d never laid my eyes upon, but that wasn’t quite it. The sun gleamed, painting each hill in gold leaf, but that wasn’t it either.

The components of the land fit together like puzzle pieces. They were the different sections of an orchestra, and when you put them together you had magic. Here was melody and harmony, here was peace.

My answer. I tilted my head to the sky so blue.

“You’re right,” I said. “It is.”