A Chest of Lies

My fingers wrapped around the fraying rope of the wood swing; which was tied to the ancient, decaying chestnut tree. I swung, allowing gravity to play as my legs swayed up and down.

"Lunara," my mother called, slipping her head out of the house door. "Come inside."

"Five more minutes, please!" my 9 year-old self whimpered.

Mother grinned. "Only if you can answer this: what is the best keeper of secrets, never willfully disclosing and unable to be pried open?"

"A treasure chest?" I guessed, scrunching my eyebrows in confusion. My mother was not one to tell jokes.

"No, think harder, more about nature, perhaps."

"Chestnuts?"

"You're smarter than me, my darling," she giggled.

"Is that why my tree is dying?"

Is it sick because its chestnuts hold too many of my secrets?
~~~
Lunara Dalgarno is a diligent, quiet, ambitious girl, and has been known as such ever since she could remember. While those around Lunara praise her, she crumbles inside from self-hatred; her always radiant smile is no more than a mere mask.

As with Lunara's insides, the world is at war. And training as a doctor at 23, she empathizes with the anguish of those she is confronted with daily. Despite struggling to care for herself, the one thing that has kept Lunara alive is her exceptional love for others to relieve their suffering.

One day, however, a new patient stumbles into the hospital -- and Lunara finds herself unable to care.
~~~
A frown plastered to my face, I checked the clipboard in my hand and glanced at the doctor beside me.

Then I stared at the patient in front of us.

"Your name?" I asked.

"Asher Woods," he responded in a raspy voice.

I checked the papers again.

Liar.