They might not like peas, she thought as she placed the hard, wrinkled seeds four finger-spaces apart. Maybe the new owners will plant roses or build a shed on top of it. Or just reseed it with grass. Mow it. Put fertilizer on it every few weeks.
Her gardening apron fit looser
than it had the previous year, her hands were stiffer, and repeatedly standing
and kneeling was difficult and noisy. But the garden was her companion. She’d
turned its soil, uncovered its worms, shared cans of beer with its slugs, and
nourished it with compost. Through decades of summer days, she had scrubbed its
heavy soil from her hands with a bar of rough, salty-smelling soap.
Sinking the spade deep into the
soil, she leaned lightly against the handle, facing east away from the sun and
toward the house. She and her husband had been in their twenties when they
moved in. She still struggled to remind herself that she was not just waiting
for him to come home. Now, the house was just money for the next decade’s
groceries and bills.
She sighed and began the next
task: digging shallow holes for the tomatoes. Stepping on the blade, she felt
an electric pang and realized she was glad Trixie had died last month. The old
tabby would have been miserable in a new environment. Involuntarily grunting,
she knelt to nestle the seedlings into their new home, then used the spade to
push herself upright.
She scratched a final shallow row
into the crumbly grey dirt. At the end of the row, she rested for a moment and
flexed her sore fingers. She watched as the silver band slipped off her hand
and landed on the soil. She looked at it blankly for a moment, then used the
handle of the hoe to push it deeper into the ground.
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