An Ordinary Harvest

Ada opened the orchard for visitors. They listened to the apples, wrote down what mattered, and left the fruit on the branches. Some wishes could not be fulfilled. People sat with those for a while before leaving. In spring, Ada buried fresh letters beneath one tree and planted vegetables beneath another. That autumn the apples were green and pleasantly sour. The carpenter brought a photograph of his first sailing trip. Neither of them called it magic. They ate pie on the new gate's broad wooden step.