Lunch

"Hi, everybody!" Mary called out, smiling and taking the nearest seat. It was a beautiful day; she'd slept well and had overachieved with lunch-packing (homemade chicken salad lettuce wraps with a sweet hot chutney and veggie dipping sticks plus a lemon bar for dessert). Mary listened, chatted, and breathed deeply. At the end of their time together, she took a moment to tend their graves, picking up debris the recent winds had blown in, and leaving fresh flowers. "Until next time," she whispered, thanking them for their company and support. Mary was in a brand new city at a stressful-but-next-level job, with no real friends yet and few extra dollars in her pocket. Although the fresh start was (currently) less than ideal, she had the dead ... cemeteries were beautiful and their inhabitants were patient and kind.