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“Who’s going to pick all these?” Sam wondered aloud It hat Astrid would have called a rhetorical question

Albert started to say sorab one of these cabbages right now I’” He unwound the earbuds and stuck them back in

The cabbages were a foot or so apart within their rows, and each roo feet from the next The soil in betas crues looked ht actually eat

It didn’t lookthis farm tour

No, Sa different He couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but there was soh the feeling he was having, tried to decide why he felt so was…off

It was quieter, maybe

Sa under his breath, shading his eyes with his hand andeach cabbage weighswe have ourselves e”

“I don’t even want to think about how many farts this all translates to,” EZ yelled over his shoulder as he marched purposefully into the field

EZ was a sixth grader but seee, a little chubby Thin, dishwater-blond hair hung down to his shoulders He earing a Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt froet along with, would banter easily, laugh easily, and usually find whatever fun there was to be found He stopped about two dozen rows into the field and said, “This looks like the cabbage for me”

“How can you tell?” Edilio called back EZ pulled one earbud out and Edilio repeated the question

“I’e How do I pick it?”

Edilio shrugged “Man, I think you may need a knife”

“Nah” EZ replaced the earbud, bent over, and yanked at the plant He got a handful of leaves for his effort

“You see what I’,” Edilio commented

“Where are the birds?” Sa him