The end of summer brought long, humid days, but also a hint of cooler evenings to come. And the last flicker of light from the season’s fireflies passed weeks before, somewhere in the brambles on the edge of the property where no one was there to witness it. Out in the fields, the crops were growing at an accelerated rate, as they do near the end of the season, and covered the grounds in a kind of abundance that was a source of jealousy for many of the local farmers.
Mara found solace in building. She modified the farm’s 3D printers so that they could now use multiple materials—from metal alloys to fibrous wood—and print at speeds never seen before. She built out the water-capture system she had designed for Dr. Gloria and open-sourced the plans, putting it into production as an additional water source for the greenhouse. With the help from Jack and Anna and others on the farm, she had constructed her own home—a clean, well-lit microhouse, just behind the shed she had once used. It was simple and made of compressed clay. No spires or living walls, but it had maximized the efficient use of materials and could be used as a model for construction elsewhere. She had learned to sleep with the rhythm of night and make the most of the changing daylight, as she could no longer rely on the supplements that once allowed her to work around the clock.
She and Jack continued their daily walks, but their conversations took on a greater sense of urgency, as Mara could now disclose what the future held and the role the farm had to play. But the future wasn’t inevitable, she would remind Jack and herself as they walked hand in hand. It was just a cautionary tale that shed light on the substantial work ahead. They made plans and designed and included Anna in every step of the process. With that came hope.
Meanwhile, Anna had bonded even more closely with her three friends over the course of the summer, especially now that they shared their great secret. She told her friends of the worlds she had visited and what it felt like to fly. But she also saw how the extraordinary could only be experienced for brief moments at a time—like the smell of violets—to be intensely felt for a short period and then quickly fade away. But not for good, Anna would tell herself, just until the next time. And she would fly again—of that she had no doubt.
Conversations about alien worlds soon shifted to the upcoming reality of high school and new songs they’d heard and the possibility of starting a band that always seemed to float just off the horizon for them. And Scout made good on his promise of a growth spurt and grew almost an inch in the month of August alone.
As for Anna and Mara, they spent their days together, their paths and futures now forever intertwined, and dreamed of what their world could be. Anna used her visions from the Others as inspiration: a school, a train, airships, antigravity, a network of farms and communities and people she had yet to meet but knew she would. Soon.