Chapter 19 - The Landlord in Lilyville
At the school gym, Lily stood beside her display wearing a blue cardigan and an expression of enormous seriousness.
Lilyville had expanded.
There was now a town hall.
I pointed at a tiny building beside the park.
“What’s that?”
“A housing office.”
“What does it do?”
“Helps people if rent gets hard.”
I looked at Sarah.
She looked away, pretending to study another display.
Lily continued.
“And this is the landlord.”
She pointed to a cardboard figure wearing a paper tie.
“Why does he look angry?”
“He isn’t angry.”
“He has no mouth.”
“He’s thinking.”
“About what?”
“Being nicer.”
Sarah coughed into her hand.
I nodded gravely.
“Important work.”
At the end of the exhibit, Lily received a small certificate for “Thoughtful Community Design.”
She carried it like a legal document.
We celebrated with hot chocolate at a café across from the school.
For an hour, nobody mentioned my father.
Nobody mentioned rent.
Nobody mentioned illness.
Sarah laughed when Lily got whipped cream on her nose.
I found myself laughing too.
May you like
It occurred to me that I had spent years chasing security and very little time practicing contentment.
The thought unsettled me more than I expected.
