What the garden kept.

Dear you,

The house sold quickly. The garden took longer to leave. I had planted a small pear tree with my father when I was twelve, and every September he called to tell me it had produced exactly four pears.

Before I handed over the keys, I left the new owners a note about the tree. I explained that it was temperamental and liked an unreasonable amount of attention.

A year later, a padded envelope arrived. Inside were a photograph and a note: five this year. I put the photograph on the refrigerator. The tree looked entirely at home.