Tomatoes | [Sope]

Prologue

It was a gorgeous summer day, perfectly representative of July. The sun was out and there were few clouds to obstruct the azure of the sky. It was warmer than warm, but not hot; the ideal temperature. The mugunghwa flowers blooming outside the fence were fragrant and beautiful.

Inside the fence, an earthy musk showcased just how healthy and hearty the soil was. Light mists caught the sun and created small rainbows that covered many of the stalks. And all that were there were tall and green and proud, showing off their shiny, ripe, red tomatoes.

All of them except the ones in his garden.

And he couldn't help but look around and see himself in his tomatoes and their vines. Shriveled up, lifeless, pitiful. He sighed as he looked up at the sky. He kept his gaze trained there for a long time before he finally dropped to the ground, sitting on the wooden garden bed, and burst into tears.

It wasn't the first time this had happened, but it was the first time it happened when he wasn't alone. And somehow, his brothers being there to see the disappointing plants made the ache in his heart worse.

He reached out to touch a leaf on one of the short, thin plants and it immediately detached from the stalk and fluttered to the ground. The colors contrasted, the tan of the dead foliage with the chocolate brown of the soil. He felt mocked, as though the robust soil was demonstrating just how pathetic the leaf was. And what was there left to do but cry more?

A few plots down, a young man watched between the plants in his own garden as two other men helped the one on the ground stand. "C'mon," the younger of them said. "Let's get you home."

Once the man had regained his composure, he looked at the older of the other two and laughed humorlessly. "No wonder she never let me touch her garden."

The other man smiled a sad smile. "She would be proud of you for trying."

But the first just shook his head as he wiped his tears. "There was never any point. I'm just a failure all around."

"No," the older said. "You've never been a failure. Especially not in her eyes."

The man who had been observing them now watched as all three of them turned and headed to the community garden's gate. Once they were gone, he, for some reason, felt led to walk over and take at look at the seemingly dead plants. He gingerly touched some of them and could immediately tell that, though they were incredibly wilted and bearing unhealthy fruit, not all hope was lost for them.

"These can be saved."