It Could Happen Here - CZM Rewind: CZM Book Club: "The Orchard of Tomorrow" by Kelsea Yu

Episode Date: January 4, 2026

Margaret reads you a story about what enormous love it will take to rebuild the world and take back what's ours from the powerful. Original Airdate: 7.21.2024See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, everybody. It's Michelle Williams, host of checking in on the Black Effect podcast network. You know, we always say New Year, New Me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. And on my podcast, we talk mental health, healing, growth, and everything you need to step into your next season, whole and empowered. New Year.

real you. Listen to checking game with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? Who catfishes a city? Is it even safe to snort human remains?

Is that the plot of footloos? I'm comedian Rory Scoville and I'm here to tell you Josh Dean and I have a new podcast that celebrates the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. It's called Crimeless, a true crime comedy podcast.

Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the shade is always Shadiest right here. Season 6 of the podcast Reasonably Shady with Jazele Bryan and Robin Dixon is here dropping every Monday. As two of the founding members of the Real Housewives Potomac were giving you all the laughs, drama and reality news you can handle. And you know we don't hold back. So come be reasonable or shady with us each and every Monday. Listen to reasonably shady from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart

Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. From NBA champion, Stefan Curry, comes shot ready, a powerful never-before-seen look at the mindset that changed the game. I fell in love with the grind. You have to find. joy in the work you do when no one else is around. Success is not an accident. I'm passing the ball to you.

Let's go. Steph Curry redefined basketball. Now he's rewriting what it means to succeed. Order your copy of the New York Times bestseller shot ready. Today at stephen currybook.com. Cool zone media. Book club, book club, book club. It's the Cool Zone Media.

Club. That's our new intro. I'm totally going to get it exactly the same from now on. I'm very good at consistently making up ditties. Welcome to the Cool Zone Media Book Club. I'm your host, Margaret Kiljoy, and every Sunday I read you a story. It's like a book club, only you don't have to do the reading, because I do it for you. And we read fiction. And sometimes we read stories that are like the perfect story for Cool Zone Media Book Club. sometimes we read stories like the one today. Today is an example of one of the perfect stories in case that didn't come across.

Because today, I'm going to read you a story called The Orchard of Tomorrow by Kelsey You. Who's Kelsey You? Well, I'll read you her bio. Kelsey Yu is a Taiwanese-Chinese-American writer who is eternally enthusiastic about sharks and appreciates a good ghost story. Over a dozen of her short stories and essays

appear in Clark's World, Apex, Nightmare, fantasy, pseudopod, and elsewhere. Her debut novella, Bound Feet, was a Shirley Jackson Award nominee, and her next novella, Demon Song, will be published by Titan Books in 2025. Kelsey's first novel, It's Only a Game, is published by Bloomsbury. Find her on Instagram and Twitter at A Novel Escape, or visit her website, KelseyU.com. Her name is spelled K-E-L-S-E-A-Y-U.

colsey lives in the pacific northwest with her husband children and a pile of art supplies and has one shirley jackson award nominee to another did you get the rock one of the coolest things about the shirley jackson award is if you're nominated they give you a rock that's engraved with um you know shirley jackson award nominee like whatever year and it makes me really happy because it's a clever joke about the story of the lottery. Ooh, I wonder if I can read that to you all one day. I don't know.

I'm to figure it out. But, this story that I'm about to read to you, the Orchard of Tomorrow, originally appeared in Clark's World magazine in July 2023. And I just want to shout out, Neil Clark is the editor of Clark's World.

Neil keeps winning well-deserved awards for his work. He's one of the best editors in speculative fiction. And honestly, if this is the only place you get your stories, that's great. I love the stories that I read to you. But there are a bunch of really good speculative fiction magazines out there right now. Like we are actually living in a golden era of short fiction, which is interesting. We are not in a golden era of short fiction readership.

We are in a golden era of short fiction authorship and publishship. We're also not in a golden era of Margaret. making up words. We're in a pretty mediocre era of that. But I highly recommend Clark's World, Strange Horizons, I don't know, just the magazines that are out right now. Full of good stuff. You should read them if you like stories.

Which you probably do, or you wouldn't be listening to this. The Orchard of Tomorrow by Kelsey U. In the rich even-tide glow, I wait for her in the place where the peaches once grew. mouth-watering little golden dusts to signal the arrival of summer hefty O'Henry's skin dark as rust honey-y yellow flesh bursting with flavor dainty summer ladies impossible to eat without juice dripping down your chin

and reliably sapid fair times to close out the season as our elders tell it this orchard was once bursting with varieties of the fuzzy-skinned fruit I kneel down, dig my fingers into the soil, and scoop up a handful. It's dry, too dry, and it crumbles in my hand. I close my fist, sweat from my palm, soaking the dirt as I try to imagine a time when the ground was rich with nutrients. When the landscape was filled with ripening peach trees, silhouettes full and dark against

the twilight sky, when my grandparents' backs and arms ached something fierce after a full day of picking fruit. All I had, all Lane and I ever had, were stories to show us what the world had been like. The sun dips below the horizon and my hope sinks with it. So much has changed in all the time that's passed, but her haunts remain the same. I would rather have sat outside her place, the one that was, once upon a time, my home too, and awaited her return. But I knew I should give her the choice to see me, or not. After eight years apart and everything I said to her when we last spoke, it's the least I owe her.

So I shoved a note under her door. Meet me at the orchard at sunset. It was the right thing to do. Yet here I am, now, in the gloaming, all alone. I unclenched my fist, and a dead beetle tumbles out with the clumped dirt. It lies belly up on the ground that, once teemed with its kind. I brush my hands off and reach into the pocket of my thin coat,

checking to make sure it's still there, the surprise I've saved for Lane, the one that might be my saving grace, if she gives me the chance to show her. I turn making my way toward the tree at the edge of the field, the lone survivor. It's barren of fruit now, but it's still standing. Leaning back against its trunk,

I close my eyes, thinking of when Lane and I spent all our days whispering secret dreams for a hopeful future. So, what, you're back now? I opened my eyes to see a hollow-cheeked version of Lane, wraith-like and disconnected from the version of her that lives in my memory. Her sloppily patched shirt is too large, hanging strangely on her bony shoulders. Eight long years, filled with who knows how many hungry days, hungry nights, have whittled her away, to this.

Guilt twists in my gut, leaving me momentarily speechless. If she's shocked by how different I am, it shows only in the slight narrowing of her eyes, the same warm brown as I remember, but ringed with dark circles now. Lane was always closed off to anyone

outside her tight circle, and I'm no longer snugly on the inside. I suck in a breath, sharp with the pain of distance between us. this is a waste of time she turns to leave the movement is so like her so very lane

that it reminds me of how things used to be of why I'm here when I made her angry too many times near the end she did this she was usually the one to run from our fights first but she always came back unlike me

I reach out to grab her sleeve Lane, wait, she crosses her arms. What do you want to go back to the way things were? I bite back the words. I, miss you, want to share a tale with you. It's a dirty trick, the terrible winter after Lane's parents died in a flash flood. She moved in with me and Mom. On cold nights, when Lane's grief threatened to swallow her hole,

Mom would wrap us up in blankets and tell us stories of Sworn Wukk. Kong, the monkey king. I see longing cross Lane's face. Then she straightens. Her veil of indifference falls back into place. She pulls away forcing me to let go of her sleeve. I don't want to hear it. Please, I say. Andrea, please? She sighs, and I still know her well enough to know it's a victory, however small. Somewhere inside the prickly creature standing before me, the ghost of my former best friend lives on. In the Celestial Gardens of Shi Wangmu, the great queen mother of the West, three types of peaches of immortality grew. The first bloomed but once every 3,000 years, granting an extension of life equal to its growth time to anyone who consumed one.

The second grew for 6,000 years, offering immortality and strength of body. The third ripened every 9,000 years, and its gifts were the most precious of them all, for the consumer of the rarest peach would become as eternal as the sky above and the earth below and live as long as the fiery sun and the frigid moon. To celebrate the ripening of the peaches,

Xi Wangmu and her husband, Yu Wang, the Jade Emperor, would invite all the deities to their azure banquet hall on Mount Kunt Kunlan for a magnificent gathering. There, they would present the peaches of immortality for all to partake,

thereby ensuring the deity's continual immutable existence. In the brief space of my tale, Lane's eyes have grown wide and attentive. Her arms are still crossed, but her posture has loosened. I can't help myself. I shift toward her,

the movement so slight I hope she won't notice. Instantly, she's on guard. Lane steps backward as if I'm a creature bearing fangs. Her shoulders stiffen and she presses her arms tightly together again, narrows her eyes as if to remind herself, to stay wary. When she speaks, her voice is pure ice. Let me guess, you learned that story from one of the dragons.

She spits the diminutive that we, and most other common foreign folk, used to refer to the world's wealthy elite. I wince. No, it's not like that. Did you enjoy it there, waking up on a clean, fluffy bed every morning for eight years, eating your fill each meal and spending your leisure time enjoying all the things they stole from us

everything they hoarded in their precious locked towers so they could continue to live in comfort while the rest of us died for scraps Lane's voice breaks at the end her choked sob as a thing with spikes lodging itself deep inside my heart this is so much worse than the way she screamed at me when I first told her the dragons had offered me a job

in one of their distant preservation greenhouses. Back then, Lane and I spent most of our days doing any work we could find in exchange for food and basic comforts, for mom, for her, for me. Whenever we had moments free, my mom would rest at home while Lane would visit the elders in the community, listening to their stories as she helped them in any way she could. I, meanwhile, spent my time applying the knowledge passed down through my family,

trying to work out how to restore the damaged soil so it would grow things again. The planter at our tiny shared house had barely begun to sprout, my first successful attempt, when a recruiter showed up. Lane was gone, knowing the dragons as I do now. He likely waited until I was alone to approach me. I took in his clean, tailored clothes, his rosy cheeks, untroubled eyes, and perfectly styled hair. The disdainful look he directed at the home I shared with the ones I love.

loved most. And I told him to go to hell. Sure, he said with a dismissive little laugh, I'll do that, but first you'll want to hear this. We can give you all the resources you need to grow things, real things, not this child's play. Your grandparents were farmers, right? I glared at him. They had an orchard, back before the world broke, before assholes like you came and took the last of their fruiting trees in exchange for resources that should be freely shared. get the hell out. I was ready to run inside,

grab my Amma's old shovel and smack him on the head, consequences be damned. And then he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I did enjoy it for a time. I finally admit to Lane thinking about the day I entered the Dragon's Lair. I won't lie to her.

At first, it was a relief. Lane stares at me, and I'm afraid I've made things even worse, but she doesn't say anything, so I go on. I, it's useless to describe what it felt like to get a full night's sleep, to have so much food available

that I gorged myself sick for a week before learning to take it slow. To know my mom would stay alive for three more years thanks to the pills the dragons hoarded for themselves. I can't say any of it. Lane would only hate me all the more. So I say the only thing I can say. I missed you, Lane.

I'm sorry I left. She presses her lips together and turns away. She's ten. agitated, fingernails digging into her own arms, and she's about to begin pacing. I can't tell if I'm closer to regaining her trust or losing her forever. So I begin the next part of the story, knowing it'll be hard for her to resist a tale about the one character she always loved hearing about the most. Which is these ads?

No, it's not part of the story. I just, there's ads, and they come here. This is where the ads go. This is where the first of the two breaks go. I trust you to find the forward-fifteenth second button. I mean, listen to these wonderful deals that we all believe in. Here they are. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers?

And what is this? How is that not a story we all know? What's this? Where is that? Why is it wet? Boy, do we have a show for you? From Smartless Media, Campside Media, and Big Money Players comes Crimeless. Join me, Josh Dean, investigative journalists

And me, Roy Scoval, comedian As we celebrate the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals We'll look into some of the silliest ways Folks have broken the laws Honestly, it feels more like a high-level prank than a crime Who catfish is a city?

And meets some memorable anti-heroes There are thousands of angry, horny monkeys Clap if you think, she's a witch And it freaks you out He has x-ray vision, And how could I not follow him? Honestly, I got to follow me. He can see right through me.

Listen to Crimless on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. You know, we always say New Year, New Me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. Hey, everybody, it's Michelle Williams, host of checking in on the Black Effect podcast network. And on my podcast, we talk. mental health, healing, growth, and everything you need to step into your next season, whole and empowered. New Year, Real You. Listen to checking in with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. You know the shade is always shady. It's right here. Season six of the podcast reasonably shady with Giselle Bryan and Robin Dixon is here dropping every Monday. Two of the founding members of the Real Housewives of Potomac were giving you all the laughs, drama, and reality news you can handle. And you know we don't hold back. So come be reasonable or shady with us each and every Monday. I was going through a walk in my neighborhood. Out of the blue, I see this huge sign next to somebody's house.

Okay. The sign says, my neighbor is a Karen. Oh, what? No way! I died laughing. I'm like, I have to know. You are lying. Humongous, y'all.

They had some time on their hands. Listen to reasonably shady from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Like, if we're on the air here, and I literally have my contract here, and I'm looking at, you know, as soon as I sign this, I'm going to get a 7.5. figure check. I've told them I won't be working here in two weeks. From the underground clubs that shaped global music to the pastors and creatives who built the cultural empire, the Atlanta Ears podcast uncovers the stories behind one of the most influential cities in the world. The thing I love about Atlanta is that it's a city of hustlers, man. Each episode explores a different chapter of Atlanta's rise, featuring conversations

with ludicrous, Will Packer, Pastor Jamal Bryant, DJ Drama, and more. The full series is available to listen to now. I really just had never experienced anything like what was going on in the city as far as like, you know, seeing so many young, black, affluent, creatives in all walks of life. The church had dwindled almost to nothing. And God said, this is your assignment. And that's like how you know, like, okay, oh, you're from Atlanta for real. I ain't got to say too much.

I'm a gradie, baby. Shut up. Listen to Atlanta is on the I Heart Radio app. Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. And we're back. In the course of his journey to the west, Swoon Wu Kong angers several gods and gains heavenly powers, thus attracting the attention of the Jade Emperor.

At first, Hugh Wong appoints him keeper of the horses, the lowliest position in heaven, intended as both a slight and a means to keep him under observation. An outsider to the deity's politics, swan hu kong does not immediately recognize the offense once he learns of it he's outraged to contain the vengeful destructive monkey hugh wong sends a band of his celestial warriors but swan wu kong defets them all in doing so much to hugh wong's chugrin sun wu kong earns himself the revered position as guardian of chi wang mu's private orchards swan hu kong is pleased with his new role having witnessed a fellow monkey die of old age earlier in his ventures, he fears death. He will do anything to avoid it, and his fortune is great for his appointment coincides with the rare ripening of the precious fruit. He watches as preparations begin for the banquet, anticipating both the taste of heavenly fruit and an end to his mortality, for surely, as protector of the

peaches, he is guaranteed a spot at the table. Yet, the feast of peaches approaches, and still, no invitation arrives. Swin Hu Kong, of the peaches of immortality laid out on a serving dish in the Azure Banquet Hall awaiting the arrival of Chi Wangmu's honored guests. He thinks of the way

that God slight him at every opportunity. He thinks about how they never wanted him here and how, now that he's forced his way in, they still find ways to exclude him. And he finds a way to sneak inside. Lane's eyes are a war zone torn between the hurt that must have been festering during our time apart, and the legend of the Monkey King, she loves so much.

And this tale is new to her. I discovered a translated copy of Journey to the West in the Dragon's Library the month after Mom died. Each night, curled up alone and on my warm, cozy bed, I read. If I held the book at just the right angle, kept only my bedside lamp on, and turned away from the empty bed on the other side of the room, I could almost pretend Mom was still there, just out of sight, softly snoring as I whiled away the evening.

Weeks passed before I read far enough to discover the tale of Swoon Wukong and the peaches of immortality. A tale mom never told me in Lane, despite the fruit at the heart of it, despite my grandparents' peach orchard. This one, where my mom and Lane's mom grew up playing together while their parents picked fruit.

Or maybe because of this orchard. when Lane and I were old 10 and 11 Lane's mom told us about the scorching hot summer when a wildfire destroyed most of the peach trees the way the sickly scent of charred fruit and thick miasma of smoke lingered for days the way volunteers from town came over to help glean the salvageable fruit

and discard the ruined ones to call the dead trees and cut the rotten bits from the ones that could be saved to make jokes with my A-Gong to distract him from the pain of seeing his precious trees charred to ash, and bring my alma, discreet tissues to soak up the tears, she pretended she hadn't shed. Lane's mom was the one to tell us, because decades after the fire, it was still too painful

for my mom or grandparents to speak of. And even though it was my family's history, my family's tragedy, Lane, as much as I, soaked up every word. It was Lane who wanted to write what she saw as a terrible wrong. It was Lane who wanted to bring the orchards back to life. to restore the land to what it had once been. It was Lane who first suggested it would be worth trying to restore the soil, revitalize the land,

to pick up the work my mom had begun before she had me. The work mom would have continued once I was grown, had she not become ill. It's Lane who stands before me now, surrounded by the ghosts of my family's peach trees, in the orchard that my grandparents had once thought would sustain my family forever. Why are you telling me this tale, she asks, voice wavering between confusion and anger?

Did she... Did your mom... Is this one of her stories? Mom died five years ago. My voice is even. I've learned to mask the ache that accompanies those words. Lane worries her lip, bites back a tear. I'm sorry, Andrea.

I nod, but I'm frustrated with myself. I would do almost anything to repair Lane's in my friendship, but I won't use mom's death. I won't use Lane's compassion, her grief, her sympathy, to my advantage. She didn't tell me about the peaches of immortality. I learned about them later. Lane stiffens, her voice grows hard again. The dragons.

They had a library and... Lane kicks the base of the tree, hard enough to make me flinch. A fucking course, a private little library they keep for themselves and their sycophants. How did it feel to work for them? To help them preserve the fruits they plundered from us, from farmers like your grandparents, to keep safe in their walled-off greenhouses. How did it feel? To read the stories.

They made sure to save, to collect for themselves, under the claim of preserving knowledge for the good of humanity. Why are you really here? Did they finally let you off your leash for one evening? Or are you on submission for them? You know what, Andrea? It doesn't matter. I don't need you anymore. I'm done.

Lane turns and strides off. Lane, I left. I left my work there. I'm done with them. She stops for a second but doesn't turn around. I see her take a deep breath. Then she shakes her head as if to remind herself that she's done with me and starts off again. I hurry to catch up. I didn't just leave, I call out after her. I also stole something precious from them. This time, she does turn around. You did what? Let me finish the tale, please. Then I'll tell you everything. Fine, but I'm going to keep walking. All right. I walk alongside Lane, hoping like hell, it isn't the last time I get the chance. Swan Wu Kong eyes the centerpiece of the

celestial banquet table. A bowl of eternal peaches, larger than any earthly peach, perfectly proportioned and plump with juice. His stomach growls something fierce and his heart fills with longing for the fruit of the gods. The key to shedding his mortality lies within reach. He takes one, waiting for Hugh Wong to appear in a rage,

for a band of celestial warriors to attack, for the guests to arrive and show their outrage in any number of ways. But no one stops him. Swan Wu Kong eats the peach of immortality.

One is all he needs, one is all anyone has ever needed, but he eyes the bowl of precious fruit. grown in Shi Wang Mu's sacred guarded garden hidden away and cultivated for her innermost circle a guarantee that they'll stay eternal, stay in power a gift for those who already have everything

the peaches are not meant for folk like him Swan Wu Kong eats another peach then another his heart hardening with each bite he's full to bursting so full that hunger is not but a distant memory but he keeps eating until he's finished every last one He washes them down with a vessel of heavenly wine, and, just to spite them further, he seeks out the corner of Lao Tzu, the father of Taoism, and steals his infamous pills of immortality. Swan Wu Kong swallows those two, before he leaves Xiwangmu's palace.

He knows that. What the hell, Andrea, Lane interrupts? Is this supposed to be some sort of allegory? Are you supposed to be Swan Wu Kong, the heroic Monkey King who stole something precious from the corrupt elite? Are you going to try to convince me you worked there because you wanted to get close to them to do something for good for us commoners? Lane's practically breathing fire, she's so angry.

You know, when I saw your note, I wondered how you'd play it. Half the reason I'm here is because I wanted to know what excuse you'd come up with. Now I know. You're going to paint yourself as some sort of fucking martyr. At least I win that bet with myself. No, Lane, I don't think I'm the goddamn monkey king.

I know I have no right to be mad, but her accusations cut away at my self-control. My words tumble out, unvarnished. Of course I don't fucking think I'm Swan Wu Kong, and he wasn't doing it for the common good. Didn't you listen to the story? He was selfish as fuck. He only wanted to take because he was pissed that he wasn't invited.

Everything else was a justification. Unlike these ads that have no justification for being here, except for the way our economic system works. Here's ads. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? And what is this? How is that not a story we all know? What's this?

Where is that? Why is it wet? Boy, do we have a show for you? From smartless media, campside media, and big money players comes crimeless. Join me, Josh Dean, investigative journalists. And me, Roy Scoville, comedian. as we celebrate the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. We'll look into some of the silliest ways folks have broken the laws.

Honestly, it feels more like a high-level prank than a crime. Who catfishes a city? And meets some memorable anti-heroes. There are thousands of angry, horny monkeys. Clap, if you think, she's a witch. And it freaks you out. He has X-ray vision. How could I not follow him? Honestly, I got to follow him. He can see right through me.

Listen to Crimless on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. You know, we always say New Year, New Me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. Hey, everybody, it's Michelle Williams, host of checking in on the Black Effect Podcast Network. And on my podcast, we talk mental health, healing, growth, and everything you need to step into your next season, Whole and Empowered. New Year, Real You. Listen to checking in with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the shade is always shady. It's right here. Season six of the

podcast Reasonably Shady with Giselle Bryan and Robin Dixon is here dropping every Monday. As two of the founding members of the Real Housewives Potomac were giving you a all the laughs, drama, and reality news you can handle. And you know we don't hold back. So come be reasonable or shady with us each and every Monday. I was going through a walk in my neighborhood. Out of the blue, I see this huge sign next to somebody's house. Okay.

The sign says, my neighbor is a Karen. Oh, no way. I died laughing. I'm like, I have to know you are lying. It's humongous, y'all. They had some time on their hands. Listen to reasonably shady

from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Kelly. And some of you may know me as Laura Winslow. And I'm Telma, also known as Aunt Rachel. If those names ring a bell, then you probably are familiar with

show that we were both on back in the 90s called Family Matters. Kelly and I have done a lot of things and played a lot of roles over the years, but both of us are just so proud to have been part of Family Matters. Did you know that we were one of the longest running sitcoms with a black cast? When we were making the show,

there were so many moments filled the joy and laughter and cut up that I will never forget. Oh, girl, you got that right. The look that you all give me is so black. All black people know about the look. On each episode of Welcome to the Family, we'll share personal reflections about making the show.

Yeah, we'll even bring in part of the cast and some other special guests to join in the fun and spill some tea. Listen to Welcome to the Family with Telma and Kelly on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Then why bother telling me the story? Is it because you think I sit around all day and daydream about stories? Because I'm a dreamer who doesn't understand what the real world demands, that sometimes people have to give up childish ideals in favor of security and shelter and medicine, that things are more complicated than I'm willing to admit, that some people grow up and grow out of being dreamers,

while others let themselves get left behind until all they have are dreams worth less than poison dirt? Her words steal away my anger. my breath, because they're not her words, they're mine, thrown at her in anger on that last day before I left to work for the dragons. She says it like she's repeated the words in her head a thousand times, like she replays them in her mind before she goes to sleep, like every word is a fact, an inarguable truth, a bludgeon. Her words hit me the same way my first taste of ripe, juicy peach did four months ago, the moment that knocked me from my comfortable complacency

that reminded me of how much I love the woman before me, who should have been there to taste that wonderful fruit we once dreamed we'd share someday when we'd regrown the peach trees. I feel it again, the self-loathing for every fiber of my well-rested, well-fed being, not only because I was willing to leave her behind, but because I was willing to stay, long after I should have left the dragons. I want to crawl into a dark hole in the ground and wait there until my body grows still, my flesh cold, and I'm nothing but meat and bones feeding the insects. I almost turn to leave, again. But Lane deserves better. Lane always deserve better than I gave her. I'm sorry. The words are a drop of water on a forest fire is pointless as staying silent. I wish it could

take back what I did. All I can do is tell you that I was wrong. I was absolutely wrong. I No. Her words cleave mine, sudden and vehement. No, she says again. That's the worst fucking part. That you were right. When you left, I had nothing. Without you, my dreams felt worthless. All the things I thought we could do to change the world. She shakes her head. I've gone so many days without food, seeing so many people suffer and die because of the greed of people like the dragons. And as much as I want to say, all it did was make me more determined. That would be a goddamn lie. Sometimes I wonder, why bother? We're too small to change anything. We're too insignificant to do anything, but do what we can to survive. She lowers her voice to a whisper,

and she won't look at me. Too many nights, I lay awake, wishing I'd gone with you. I put my hands on Lane's shoulders to stop her in her tracks because I can't let her go another moment believing this because it breaks me to see her so broken. Lane doesn't pull away. She's shaking and when I draw her close I realize she's sobbing with her entire body. There's so little of her left. I hug her and she cries on my shoulder the same way she did half our lives ago. The day she showed up at my house newly orphaned face a wreck of blotchy tears. I listen now as she tells me how the last few years have been especially hard, so goddamned hard. I swallow a reply when she whispers that this doesn't mean that she forgives me. I wait until her tears run dry until she wipes her face on the hem of her

shirt, until she's spent. Lane, I say, and she looks up. You weren't wrong. Lane starts to shake her head, but it's half-hearted, like she's too tired to care anymore. I put more force into my voice. I need her to know. I'm not just saying it. I'm the one who was wrong. We need dreamers. We need people like you who can imagine the way things could be. Dragons think they're the only ones who are truly free, because they've shackled everyone else. They think that access to all the world's most precious things makes their lives richer, fuller. But all they've done is create private little fortresses of fear. They play petty games with each other

because they fear one another too. They've taken everything, and so they're afraid to lose anything. I wish I could say that I regret my choice to leave. I can't. Not when that choice gave my mom three more years. But I shouldn't have said the shit I said

just to make myself feel better about what I was doing. I shouldn't have stayed for five years after she died. I want to say I did it because I had some grand plan to learn what I could from them and upend everything. But the truth is, I got comfortable. I told myself the security was worth it.

Leariness has seeped back into Lane's expression, but she doesn't leave. At least she's listening. People like me lack imagination. I swallow hard. It's not an admission I like to make. People like me can only see what's right in front of them sometimes. You never could see the orchards the way I could.

I look around trying to picture the trees the way they were in Lane's mom's stories. I wished for so long that I could, I say. Lane sighs. It's a long, weary sound. What doesn't matter anymore? It makes no difference if you regret it or not. It happened. You left, I stayed, we're here now, and it's too late. The world has only gotten worse. There's nothing to come back to. All my dreams crumbled to dust, just like you knew they would. you should have stayed where you were.

I shake my head. There are two things I learned there in the dragon's enclave. First, that the fruit of today never tastes quite like the fruit of yesterday. Thanks to breeding, to natural selection, to climate change, fruit evolved in taste and texture over time. There's evidence that peaches were domesticated as far back as 8,000 years ago in northwest China, but those ancient Chinese peaches, they're gone forever.

She eyes me. Okay. and second, there is one good thing about the dragons. Lane's lips turned down. I almost laugh at the skepticism, radiating off her. Oh yeah? What the hell is good about them? They keep really good records on how to care for their precious things.

I pull something from my pocket and hand it to her. Lane's eyes narrow, but she accepts the small journal filled with the notes I memorized and painstakingly copied from the dragon's records over the course of the last four months. Her brows furrow. What's this? I hand her the other item for my pocket. The thing I've been saving, hoping it'll be enough. A small cloth-wrapped bundle. She unravels the cloth, and her breath catches.

Is that? Is it what I think it is? The wonder in her voice makes everything that went into this moment worth it. It is. Lane turns over the ridged, blush-pink peach pit, running her fingers over its smooth grooves. She wipes her eyes and laughs involuntarily, a little hiccup of a thing.

And then her shoulders slouch again. But it's a waste. You should have smuggled out food and medicine. That's what we need most. I did that too. She shakes her head still staring at the peach pit. Then why bother with this? One tree won't change the world.

Besides, it's not just that the dragons stole the last fertile peach trees. it's that this soil won't grow them anymore. Your grandparents' orchard will never go back to what it used to be. No, it won't, I say. Surprise the lights, lean's face. It probably won't, I amend. Maybe someday the peaches will return here. But there are pockets of the world that it will still be able to grow them,

or places that will be able to grow them for the first time. This isn't the only peach pit or the only fruit we want to bring back to the world outside the dragon's protective little bubble. There are many of us, so many more than I ever could have imagined, smuggling out the things they hoard, the plants, the animals, the stories, the technology. Others are fighting in small ways, setting up a future where we take back what is ours. But this is part of it. People wrote stories about fruit trees, built legends around them, because they mattered.

You were right to dream, Lane. Hope flares in her eyes, and it's the most beautiful thing. we'll travel find a spot for this pit i have a few places we can start a gesture towards the notebook and lane hands it back to me absently and if those ones don't work we'll find another and try again we'll test them we'll grow them we'll keep trying we'll do anything we can our world is never going back to what it used to be peaches aren't what they used to be but with a lot of effort and a little luck maybe you and i will be the first to take the peaches from the orchard of tomorrow. I reach out my hand, throat tight with hope.

I don't deserve a second chance, but Lane was always a better person than I. Lane looks at me, a gaze that pierces me through. Then she looks beyond me. She takes several deep breaths, and I brace myself for her refusal, for the pain I know I deserve. This time she'll be the one to walk away.

She wraps the precious pit back up in the cloth and tucks it away, then she places her hand in mine and though her skin is cold warmth floods me lighting up my entire body she glances my way and her expression is still wary

still uncertain but she doesn't loosen her grip or let go you are going to tell me the end of that Swan Wokong tale right I smile at her blinking back the tears that fill my eyes I'll tell you on the way

I'll tell you every tale I read she squeezes her hand in mine and together we take our first steps towards the place where the peaches will grow once more. And that's the story. I hope you all liked it half as much as I did because then you still liked it a lot. I don't know.

It's funny, like, you know, I usually have so much to say about these stories. And one thing I like about this writing is that it's just clear, right? There's allegories, there's, like, thoughts and concepts in it and stuff. and they're just written in a way where you don't need to like really dig in to be like oh I wonder what this one little thing here means or whatever

you just know and it's also not heavy-handed like I think this is an amazingly well-written story I almost said well-read story and you know well that too I don't know I have no idea if I did well but whatever so if you enjoyed this story if you go to Kelsey U's website which is K-E-L-S-E-A-Y-U dot com. All of her publications are listed and linked there,

so you can read so much more of her work. And when I asked her what she wanted to tell you all, like what's a plug here at the end, she said, The story is most likely to fit a similar audience as The Orchard of Tomorrow are, in memories we drown from Clark's World, a scarcity of sharks in reckoning,

and Harvest of the Deep in Fantasy. I have two books out, Bound Feet, which is a horror novella, and it's only a game, which is a young adult thriller that just came out last Tuesday. And I have another horror novella coming out next fall with Titan that's called Demon Song. It also ties in Swoon Wukong and Chinese folklore, so anyone interested in that story element might enjoy it.

And I'm looking forward to finding those books. they seem really good. All right. Well, if you listen to this on Cool People Did Cool Stuff, you should also check out It Could Happen here. And if you listen to this on It Could Happen Here, you should also check out Cool People Did Cool Stuff. I'm Margaret Kiljoy, and I will talk to you all next week

with another episode of Cool Zone Media Book Club. Book Club, Book Club. It could happen here as a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website, coolzonemedia.com, or check us out on the IHeartRad app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It Could Happen here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia.com slash sources.

Thanks for listening. Hey, everybody, it's Michelle Williams, host of checking in on the Black Effect Podcast Network. You know, we always say New Year, New Me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. And on my podcast, we talk mental health. healing, growth, and everything you need to step into your next season, whole and empowered. New Year, Real You. Listen to Checking in with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? Who catfishes a city? Is it even safe to snort human remains? Is that the plot of footloose? I'm comedian Rory Scoville, and I'm here to tell you, Josh Dean and I have a new podcast that celebrates the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. It's called Crimeless, a true crime comedy podcast. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the shade is always Shadiest right here. Season 6 of the podcast Reasonably Shady with Jazele Bryan and Robin Dixon is here dropping every Monday as two of the shade. the founding members of the Real Housewives Potomac were giving you all the laughs, drama, and reality news

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Every season is a chance to grow, and the Therapy for Black Girls podcast is here to walk with you. I'm Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, and each week we dive into real conversations that help you move with more clarity and confidence. This episode, we're breaking down what really happens to your information online and how to protect yourself with intention. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, are where wherever you get your podcast.

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