That night, there were two visitors at the Sanctuary for dinner: Tommy, the mushroom grower from the farmers’ market, and a Brazilian girl named Cerise who worked at the hardware store in town. Cerise was petite with rosy cheeks, black hair cut in a straight bob and wore a small silver ring in her nose. She did not look like someone you would go to for advice on home repairs, but Micah and Jeremy raved about her knowledge of plumbing fittings and valves. The guests sat on either side of Micah at the dinner table, and as Cerise laughed and answered their questions about power tools, Sero found herself feeling particularly uncharitable.

“Hey, Micah,” Justin asked at dinner. “What’s happening with the driveway, man? It looks like a construction site out there.” The front driveway was still dug up, necessitating all of them to park tandem in front of the garage instead of using the circular drive. A large pile of paver stones had accumulated on the front lawn, many of them now broken. Fortunately, the water in the house had not been affected since that first day they had shut it off to start digging. Sero had been hesitant to ask Micah about it, but Justin apparently wasn’t. “Seriously,” he continued, looking around the table, “when are those pipes going to be fixed? It’d be nice not to have to climb over that pile of rubble every day.” Micah stood up from the table to carry his plate to the kitchen and gave Justin a withering look that ended the conversation.

40 | Serotina

April 2015

Serotina worked tirelessly on Greenfields through the spring. Another hundred pounds of product in the cycle would be ready for sale in a couple of months. “We should order the next batch of seedlings,” Sero told Micah one evening in bed. “Our mother plants aren’t big enough to generate their own yet.”

“Okay, I’ll arrange it. Listen, Sero.” Micah propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her. “I think it’s time for you to stop working at NatMark. You’re much more valuable to us here, working on Greenfields full-time.”

“What about my employee discount? That makes a big difference to our food costs, doesn’t it?” Sero had conflicting emotions about the idea. She liked getting out of the house, having some time away from the group. But she also liked feeling indispensable to Micah; she hoped he wanted her around more not just for Greenfields, but himself.

“Well, pretty soon, we’ll be self-sufficient for food. And in the meantime, don’t worry about the groceries.” Micah leaned down to kiss her. “Anyone can do the shopping. We need you here. I need you.”

* * *

On the morning of the community board meeting to address the chickens, they held a special meditation session on the back patio. With her eyes closed, Sero followed the mental images Micah painted, of the future utopian Sanctuary, where they not only grew all their own fruits and vegetables, but also produced their own milk, made their own yogurt, butter and cheese, baked their own bread. Solar panels and water wells would minimize their impact on the earth. She meditated on what this place would feel like, the pride that would come from knowing they were self-sufficient, that they were not taking from the planet but taking care of it. When Sero opened her eyes afterwards, she was not the only one wiping away tears. The sun was rising over the hills in the distance, the birds were chirping, and she had never felt so sanguine about her future than at that moment.