After burying her eight-year-old daughter, Lily, Ashley returns home overwhelmed with grief and exhaustion. The funeral had been an agonizing blur, filled with condolences that couldn’t pierce through her numbness. The pain of losing Lily, a little girl whose laughter once filled their home, was crushing beyond words. Her world felt empty, and the weight of her grief dragged her deeper into despair.

However, when Ashley arrives home, she finds something strange—a large, brightly colored circus-like tent in her backyard. Exhausted and confused, she approaches it cautiously, wondering if her mind is playing tricks on her. The tent, with its red and yellow stripes, seems surreal, as if it doesn’t belong in her bleak world.

Inside the tent, Ashley finds a small, mysterious bundle. For a moment, her heart is gripped with fear as memories of Lily’s frail body in the hospital flood her mind. But then, the bundle moves, and to Ashley’s surprise, a golden retriever puppy emerges, wagging its tail and looking up at her with innocent eyes.

Overwhelmed, Ashley wonders who could have left the puppy there and why. As she strokes the puppy’s fur, she notices an envelope tucked under the blanket. Opening it with trembling hands, she reads a note written in Lily’s handwriting.