Today, we crossed the river early in the morning, the journey taking longer and proving more arduous than the trip in the opposite direction. The path was slower and the weight of our packs added to the weariness. The river itself, however, was a different story. While the crossing took more time, it was not as exhausting as I had feared. The current, though steady, was less relentless than before, and the guides moved with practiced ease, guiding us through the shallows and deeper currents alike. Once on the other side, we resumed our journey, the landscape shifting subtly as we pressed onward.

Some time after resuming my hike, in the distance, among the jungle plants, I noticed a stone-the same one I'd passed earlier, heading toward the river over a month ago in this area. I didn't have time to think carefully about it but at the last moment, as I passed it, I noticed something that had nothing to do with nature. On the stone, amid its dark, irregular lines, was an unnatural, rounded shape-something that looked like a flat, blue stone embedded in a boulder. It was nothing that could possibly be there.

Now, holding the necklace in my hands-the same one I'd always carried with me since receiving it-I wonder if it was my imagination or if it really happened. In my memory, that stone looks exactly like this one. I wonder if what I saw today was really there or just in my mind-but I can't deny that in my memory, that stone looks like the one I always carry with me.