第18章 The Cycle

# Chapter 18: The Cycle Thomas realized the truth. The garden wasn't a curse — it was a cycle. Life feeding on life, beauty born from sacrifice, growth sustained by decay. The Blackwoods had understood this, and so had the organism. It wasn't evil — it was natural. A force of nature that demanded a price for its gifts. "There's no escaping it," Thomas said to himself. "Only accepting it. The garden will always grow. The question is whether we choose to feed it or be consumed by it." He made a decision. He wouldn't run. He wouldn't fight. He would tend the garden — carefully, deliberately, with full awareness of what it required. Not as a victim, but as a partner. The garden had chosen him once. It would choose him again.