lody Sumrs’s family finished clearing the debris from their villa’s entrance. They didn’t waste any ti and imdiately installed the solar panels on the roof.
lody Sumrs knew this windstorm was just the beginning. It was like an advance warning to humanity from the heavens. With the end of the windstorm, a year-long period of extre heat had quietly descended.
After finishing up, lody Sumrs headed to Crystal Mart. She saw the store was already running on the generator she had left there earlier, and the freezers and refrigerators inside were operating smoothly.
A few other residents were in the supermarket, lined up in front of a power strip to charge their phones and power banks. They seed a little sheepish about it, and all of them bought a lot of items in the store.
Just then, two trucks pulled up to the supermarket’s entrance, carrying a newly ordered shipnt of food and supplies.
Finn Lynch and the others quickly went to help the delivery crew unload, hauling box after box of goods into the storeroom.
Just then, a woman shopping in the fresh produce section complained, "Hey, boss! Why are the vegetables so expensive today? Who can possibly afford to eat them?"
Crystal Lynch replied, "It’s because our own cost was high. We had to haul this batch back from the farrs’ market ourselves a few days ago, and now the market is completely out of stock. Once these are sold, we won’t be able to get any more."
Hearing this, the delivery driver chid in, "You should buy vegetables while you can. The market next to my neighborhood is completely out. It’s not easy to find any for sale, so you’re lucky."
The woman asked doubtfully, "The tornadoes have passed, haven’t they? How could there be no vegetables?"
The delivery driver replied, "The recent tornadoes destroyed all the vegetable fields. The farrs have tilled the soil again, but they have to sow new seeds and plant seedlings. There won’t be any fresh vegetables on the market until the new crops are ready, and that will take at least twenty days or so."
"Leafy greens will need at least twenty-odd days, but legus will take more than a month. Eggplants and the like will take even longer—over two months. So for the foreseeable future, vegetable prices are going to be high, and they could be out of stock at any mont."
’We won’t even have twenty days,’ lody Sumrs thought. ’Once the extre heat hits, the only vegetables available will be the expensive indoor-grown ones. There won’t be any affordable produce on the market.’
The woman huffed. "Well then, my family just won’t eat vegetables for a few days. We’ll figure it out later."
With that, the woman left the supermarket.
The delivery driver, however, grabbed a bag and filled it with plenty of vegetables. He brought them to the register to pay—he knew what was going on, and this price was already a steal.
After the driver checked out, lody Sumrs thought for a mont before pulling Crystal Lynch aside to whisper, "Crystal, I’ve noticed the power grid in the complex isn’t very stable. We’ll probably have frequent outages during the peak usage period in the sumr. Your family should really get a generator or so solar panels, just in case. A ho generator isn’t too expensive these days, just a few thousand for one. They don’t run too loud and last a long ti."
Crystal Lynch considered it for a mont, then nodded. "You have a point. This blackout has been a real headache. I’ll ask my dad to buy a generator, and we’ll stock up on so gasoline and diesel too."
lody Sumrs was relieved to hear that. The Lynch Family was in the long-haul trucking business, so they surely had better access to gasoline and diesel than she did.
*
On her way ho, lody Sumrs saw a group of workers in coveralls huddled together, discussing sothing.
Curious, lody Sumrs approached them and spotted Hollis from the sales office in the crowd.
Hollis rembered her and greeted her warmly, "Miss Sumrs! With the heavy winds these last few days, is your ho okay?"
"Thanks for asking, we’re fine," lody Sumrs said with a smile. "What’s going on here?"
"Electrical maintenance," Hollis replied. "The power has been out for several days, and the repair crew has finally made it to our complex. We’ve had electricians co to overhaul the entire electrical system and replace all the outdated equipnt."
lody Sumrs felt a sense of relief. The upcoming heatwave would inevitably lead to a massive surge in electricity consumption, putting a huge strain on the grid’s capacity. Having The tropolis Residences arrange for an overhaul ahead of ti would prevent a lot of potential problems.
As lody Sumrs returned to the villa section of the complex, she saw a number of luxury cars driving in and out. She paused for a mont, then it dawned on her. The windstorm this week must have caused damage downtown, so so of the wealthier residents were rembering their unused villas in The tropolis Residences and moving in temporarily.
As lody continued ho, she saw workers carrying luggage in and out of a few villas near her house. It seed she was getting new neighbors.
When lody got ho, she opened up the resident group chat and saw the hoowners were already deep in discussion:
"4-2009 Nina: @Property Managent, why isn’t the power back on yet?"
"Property Managent: The technicians are working on it now. We expect power to be restored either today or tomorrow. We ask all residents to please be patient."
"4-1209 Goofing Off: Has anyone else noticed how hot it’s been the last couple of days? Is this temperature normal for April?"
"2-1908 Coco: It really is hot. Maybe the windstorm a few days ago blew all the clouds away."
"5-1706 Adian: Has anyone else noticed the prices at Crystal Mart are way more expensive? The vegetables cost several tis more than they did a few days ago. Isn’t Property Managent going to step in?"
"4-2009 Nina: I thought the prices were too high, so I went to the farrs’ market myself, but I didn’t realize it would be closed. Ugh, my family just spent a fortune replacing our windows and doors, then paid to have all the debris and rubble cleaned out of the house. Our TV and sofa in the living room are both broken, and we don’t have the money for new ones. Now we can’t even buy vegetables... I don’t know how we’re supposed to get by."
"5-2602 North Window: It’s so hot, you can feel it more on the higher floors. Hurry up and get the power back on! It’s hard to breathe in my apartnt without the AC."
"..."
lody Sumrs silently closed the app on her phone. The temperature was definitely creeping up. It wouldn’t be long before she’d need to run the AC.
Back in her room, lody Sumrs went straight into her space.
The various vegetables in the garden plot were thriving and ripening in succession. Nearby, a small patch of honeysuckle had also begun to sprout.
The fruit trees in the grove were in full bloom, attracting swarms of bees and butterflies.
lody Sumrs harvested so of the ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, eggplants, and green beans from her fields.
This was more than her family could possibly eat, so lody decided to sell the surplus secretly at Crystal Mart. With vegetable prices being so high lately, it would be a sha not to cash in.
It was a far cry from her one-hundred-million goal, but it was inco nonetheless.
Thinking of the one hundred million required to unlock the space, lody Sumrs couldn’t help but sigh. Where on earth was she going to get that kind of money?
lody then took so feed to the animal pens, filling every trough to the brim.
The chicks that had hatched previously were growing up strong. The young hens would start laying in a little while, which ant she would be able to harvest more eggs. As for the young roosters, she’d make them into soup once they were big enough.
The first batch of duck eggs had also hatched recently. A few little ducklings were now paddling around the pond after their mother.
The rabbits multiplied the fastest. She had started with only three, and now the colony had grown to over a dozen. lody gave them a lot more licorice root.
The gestation periods for the cattle and sheep were longer, so there was no sign of any new arrivals yet.
The miniature pigs had also grown several sizes larger. lody had been itching to butcher a few of the young boars for a while now. The old farr who’d sold them to her said that miniature pigs were tastiest when roasted at this size. The young sows, of course, had to be kept for breeding.
But then she rembered the three freezers at ho, all neatly packed with frozen at they hadn’t even finished, and she decided against it.
The mont she exited the space, lody Sumrs saw a small white cat perched on her bed, staring at her with a completely blank expression.
lody: "..."
User Comments
0 comments from readers