Chapter 5: Angeline

Post-walk, Angeline sat at her desk to read. She pulled out her octagonal touch-screen library and searched for texts on urban botany. She always read at her desk, upright, no lounging. If the violet apples could thrive with her care, she might be able to foster other native-yet-rare plants in the neighborhood, so she had been on quite a research quest recently. She knew the remaining work of her life was to make this place pleasant and friendly. She liked plants and was getting better in the garden.

Some color and interest in the landscape would do wonders. The place was drab and sad. She was intent on bringing to the community the same care for aesthetics she took with her own home.

Angeline’s little house felt awkward among the industrial tallness of the surrounding buildings in Northeast Falson. The neighborhood was never intended to be pretty or colorful. It was never intended to be cozy or calming. It was designed for the efficiency of body storage, not the psychological security …