The autumn tree, heavy with snow, stood like a silent guardian at the edge of the town. Winter had already knocked on every door, blanketing the world in quiet white.
A plane touched down on the frozen tarmac, its engines roaring into the cold air. From its door stepped a teenage boy, small in stature but radiant, his bright face, peach-red lips, and lotus-shaped eyes glowing with excitement.
It was Ethan, returning from a distant country, as he did every two years, to prove that friendship could survive any distance.
At the airport, his three friends—Liam, Jack, and Emma—stood waiting, eager smiles on their faces. The reunion was inevitable, a warm spark in the midst of winter's chill.