Bill sat on the step, watching Rosie in the garden. It worried him that there were no other children her age for her to play with. Soon there would be. A little brother or sister. Stella was pregnant. Great joy in the community about that, more worry for him. What if this child turned out to be like Rosie, unable to survive in the post-GOD environment without a transfuse of Ex nanotech?

A raven landed near the child. He saw Rosie hold something out to it, something small, round and red. The raven hopped over to her, took it gently in its beak then lifted and flew westwards. Rosie watched, a pleased smile on her sweet little face, then turned her attention back to something on the ground beside her.

“What have you there, Rosie-bud?” asked Bill, standing up and walking across to his daughter.

Rosie smiled, held up a small red tomato. Bill frowned. Much too early for tomatoes. He hadn’t sown the seeds for the summer crop yet. Then saw the little bush against the fence where Rosie would stand vigil each night. A little bush bursting with bright red cherry tomatoes.

Rosie

raven

• * *

“Wrong time of year,” murmured the preacher.

“Yes,” smiled Sam.

The preacher held the tiny tomato to his nose, sniffed. “Yet it smells fresh from the vine.”

Sam nodded. “It’s from Rosie.” Added, as the preacher looked blankly at him. “The abomination.”

The preacher winced. “I’m sorry I called the child that,” he whispered. “It is I who am the abomination.”

“No,” Sam said, and gently placed a hand on the preacher’s shoulder. “You didn’t know then what you know now.” He gazed at the old man’s downturned face. “You are not wearing your bio-suit,” he observed.

The preacher sighed, nodded. “If GOD wants me, he can take me,” he said. “I want to feel the air on my face again.”

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chapter 33

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