4 Val’s Garden

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I am new to the city. I do not know anyone. But an old woman lives next door. Her name is Val. She gives me a big box of vegetables.

She grows them in a garden by the sidewalk. There are carrots, tomatoes, beans, and peas. They are the best vegetables I ever ate. Val lives alone, too. But she seems happy in her garden. She loves those plants. Sometimes, I can hear her talking to them. Maybe that is why they grow so big.

One day, I stop seeing Val in the garden. I see people take many boxes from her home. Weeds grow in her garden. The dirt is dry. The plants look sad. Val must have passed on.

So I pull the weeds. I water the garden. I even talk to the plants.

Then a family moves next door. They are new to the city. They do not know anyone. And I give them a big box of vegetables from Val’s garden.