From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
Garden Speech
In a **suburban Australian backyard** — unexpected, domestic, quiet — Katita sits with an elderly man (possibly the narrator) discussing children, play, and cycles. Katita: “"Children don't understand cycles because they haven't lived long enough to see one. But they *feel* them."” He asks if she's trying to break it. She describes a childhood game: marking the same spot on a tree each year, watching it move upward as the tree grew. Katita: “"Growth is just the same place being remembered from a different height."” Old man: “"Are you trying to move higher, or stop the tree?"” Katita: “"I'm trying to mark the spot so well that next time, I'll recognize it."” Leif appears at the garden gate — healed, whole, already holding the hand cannon. The episode offers no explanation for how they arrived here or how his wounds closed. A bird calls once, unrepeatable.