[STATIC]: THE FRIENDSHIP GARDEN / OLIVE PILE Fiction
Zucchini seeds waited to be planted in the soft earth as Crow anxiously waited for a cigarette. Starting a community garden with his best friends was a dream come true, but he had no idea he would have to work continuously without even a break to smoke. It was a bit ironic that he destroyed his lungs in the same breath that he used to heal the earth, but self-destruction and hyperempathy was the name of his game. Rae was hard at work at the gate, letting folks in to help out with the planting operations. A red and grey flannel shirt was tied around her waist, and her dark hair was tied back and out of her eyes. A straw hat protected her eyes from the sun and its powerful rays. Greyson was walking each row, watering every crop as needed to ensure a healthy field of vegetables. Their attire was simple, a black sports bra holding their chest in place while a pair of cut-off shorts covered their upper thighs. They finished the job eagerly and enthusiastically, coming over to give their baby brother—Crow was less than a year younger than them—a hug and a break from his hard work. Blue sat in their stickerbombed wheelchair overseeing the operations and supervising when necessary. They had been offered the day to rest by the others, but they were excited to see the garden’s opening, and happily tagged along to help however they could—they had been working the entrance earlier in the day, before Rae took over with her fiery spirit and charismatic energy. At the end of the day, they had an ex36
pansive garden planted with love, care, and about twenty pairs of hands. Rae had invited some friends from the local Green Anarchists to help out— they were rather friendly, and incredibly helpful with the planning. A couple folks from the community had stopped by to work in the morning; how they had found out about the garden was still unknown, but the quartet of friends chose not to question their appearance. They retired to the adjacent home, a cozy little house that they had made their own far away from the pressures of family, school, or capitalist labor. Rae began cooking a hearty supper with tender lamb, fresh vegetables from the farmer’s market, and jasmine-lime rice as the others rested. Her energy was unmatchable amongst the four; incredibly, she managed to take care of herself better than the others despite her relentless work ethic. Crow settled into the bathtub after having a cigarette on the front porch. The tub was built perfectly to accommodate his body, short and squishy was the way he liked his proportions despite the dysphoric feelings that sometimes stemmed from his anatomy. Greyson was much skinnier than their brother, having only recently begun recovering from a yearslong pattern of disordered eating; Rae’s cooking was a major boost to their confidence, and they’d begun loving their body, much to the delight of their housemates. Blue was somewhere in between the two, just an inch or two taller than Greyson and Crow; Rae towered over all of them at