Yesterday, a small life flew into my room – a great tit, bright yellow breast, dark crown. He struck the window and fell, silent as a fallen leaf.

I held him in my hand, felt the warmth of his body slowly fade, the softness turn to stillness, his shining eyes grow quiet. I could do nothing but witness a life passing.

Today, I placed him in a small box filled with flowers I picked. I carried him beneath the tree in my garden and returned him to the earth. As I finished, another great great tit landed above us, on a thin branch, as if to say, he is not gone. In that moment, tears came.

I named him 秋思 – Autumn’s Thought. He rests now among roots and flowers, beneath sky and birdsong. And when spring returns, he will fly again, light as petals, bright as morning.

Farewell, little one.

You were here.

You will be remembered.