Elias woke early on a damp Saturday morning to the sound of tires crunching on the gravel drive, and he knew without looking that the co-op kids had arrived again. He pulled on his flannel shirt and boots, stepped onto the porch, and saw three cars parked in a messy line with doors already flying open. Mara climbed out first, carrying two heavy trays of vegetable starts, her purple hair tied back and her face set with that determined look she got when she had decided something was going to get done.“Eli, we’re here to finish the beds today,” she called as she walked up the steps. “No excuses. The rain stopped long enough for us to work, so we’re working.”Kai jumped down from his truck next, dreads tied back, already unloading bags of fresh compost from the bed.“We brought extra manure this time,” he said. “And my cousin Theo, who knows how to weld. He says the chicken run still looks like a raccoon could laugh at it.”Theo, a quiet boy with glasses and steady hands, gave a small wa

Elias was raking the last of the ash from the far bed when he heard the unfamiliar sound of a motorcycle engine coming up the drive. He straightened, wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his wrist, and watched as a beat-up black bike slowed to a stop beside Kai’s truck. The rider swung a leg over, pulled off a scratched helmet, and revealed a young woman with short-cropped black hair, a nose ring, and a leather jacket covered in patches. She looked about twenty, with sharp eyes and a cautious expression that suggested she didn’t trust easy.Mara, who was planting kale a few rows away, looked up and grinned.“That’s Lila,” she said. “New member. She joined the co-op two weeks ago. Quiet, but she knows her stuff. Grew up on a commune or something. Kai invited her.”Lila walked over, helmet tucked under her arm, and gave Elias a small nod.“You’re Eli,” she said. It wasn’t a question