Page 50 of A Better World

2)Samhain—Get out your party hat! If you’re in town, count yourself lucky! Samhain is consistently voted our most popular holiday.

By law, houses must offer treats for young children between the ages of 0–13 during the afterschool hours. Otherwise, tricks are ENCOURAGED!

After sundown, all PV residents over 13 years of age are invited to attend our haunted maze in the Labyrinth beneath Caladrius Park, followed by an outdoor feast and bonfire for survivors. (Just kidding. Everyone survives!)

In Hollow tradition, a pecked caladrius is sacrificed at midnight. This is our way of respecting the mercurialnature of luck, and the bounty of our good fortune. We appreciate that not all who deserve to survive will do so.

* Costumes are required. Those with heart conditions, please register with the PV police department, and please do not go through the maze alone!

3)Thanksgiving—In PV, this holiday is especially important. We acknowledge our roots, and the greater power that brought us all together.

We start the day out with a race because EVERYONE between 13 and 90 years of age has to earn their dinner!

We feast after the race. Each of the three parks is equipped with heat lamps and good cheer. Tables are assigned according to tenure and track.

Our main dish is caladrius. Though we honor these birds, we must also accept that the town cannot support an unlimited number. All resources are finite.

Starting Thanksgiving, Sirin’s Bar and Grill closes at 10:00 p.m. on weekdays, midnight weekends.

4)Winter Festival—the Plymouth Valley Winter Festival is a three-day party! During the shortest, darkest days of the year, we all need to let off some steam. This is a resident-only holiday.

* All Hollow traditions are hosted by resident volunteers. Contact the Beautification Society to learn more!

The Reviews Are In

Acceptance happened sofast and with such little fanfare that it almost seemed to the Farmer-Bowens that they’d never gone through a hazing at all.

Hip and Josie had friends and things to do. Russell got invited out to lunch with his team. After reading all the files, he petitioned the judge for a delay in the court case while he ran new trials. People who’d formerly been aloof, like the Roc soccer team, now clapped backs and invited them to pregame brunches. They acted as if they’d always been this hospitable, as if they’d been friends all along.

October 18 arrived, and Linda met with Zach, though it was no longer necessary. He told her their progress in this town was great, which he’d expected, because he was a great judge of character. “On the off chance my husband’s testimony doesn’t win the court case, for how long will we be allowed to stay in PV?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” he told her. “I’ve only heard wonderful things about all of you.” Then he did prayer hands.

With a house so big, and Linda now working two jobs, she could no longer push the start date for the housekeeper, Esperanza Lopez. Having been in PV’s employ for the entirety of her career, Esperanza required no instruction and though she was often in the house, she avoided direct interaction with the Farmer-Bowens. Quickly, the house gleamed.

Sunny got bold and started waddling out from her shelter to beg at their front door most mornings for food. She wouldn’t eat driedinsects anymore, only jerky, which she dragged back to her shelter like a dragon guarding its treasure.

Through ActHollow, Linda learned that the Parker children were flown out to reunite with Trish in Palo Alto. Gal remained in the hospital, her health tenuous. Inpatient recovery would take months, delaying her eviction. The board had considered ousting her without treatment, but by one vote, the members decided she could stay.

Many times over the following weeks, Linda was tempted to visit the ICU. The details of that night weighed on her. What had Gal done and why—why?But then she’d remember Gal’s grin, that husk of a person on a couch, and the terribly sweet sounds of young voices like stacked, abandoned dolls in a toy house. She’d think:I’m not ready.

Soon, life was going better than she’d hoped.

“Hi, Sally! What’s new?” she asked the border guard, Sally Claus, a cheerful thirtysomething with prematurely gray hair that shone a pretty silver. Linda handed over the list of supplies she was transporting to the free clinic, and Sally, holding a steaming tea, searched the trunk one-handed to make sure the list and the physical contents aligned.

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