Harmony by Carolyn Parkhurst

guessing?” asks Scott.
    Ryan looks up like
huh?
, like he’s already forgotten the whole thing and he’s on to something else entirely. “She’s always so deep in her own head,” my mom says about Tilly.
    â€œWedding and weeding,” prompts Scott. Still not annoyed, not bothered that our conversation got interrupted or that we still haven’t started whatever this irrigation project is. Just interested in what’s going on in Ryan’s mind.
    Ryan smiles. “Yeah. Isn’t that hilarious? It’s when Homer’s teaching a class about how to have a successful marriage.”
    Scott turns to me. “Ryan is a walking
Simpsons
encyclopedia,” he says. “It’s pretty impressive. Now listen up, both of you. In that shed . . .” He points at a little white building with a slanted roof on the far side of the garden. “I’ve got a whole bunch of plastic milk cartons that need to have holes poked in them. Any idea why they need to have holes poked in them?”
    I start to say something, but Scott holds up a finger to stop me. He smiles at me the same way he did in the dining hall this morning: like he knows I know the answer. He wants to hear what Ryan says.
    â€œRyan?” he says. “Any idea why we’d be poking holes in milk cartons? For a reason that has something to do with our garden?”
    I can see in Ryan’s face that it’s hard for him to drag himself backfrom wherever he is in his mind. But then there’s a moment when I think he plays back Scott’s question in his mind, and everything clicks into place.
    â€œTo water the plants,” he says. “So the water will drip in there a little at a time.” Which is even more than I’d figured out, actually. I knew we’d put water in the jugs, but I hadn’t really thought about why.
    â€œHigh five,” says Scott, and he holds a hand up to each of us. “And here’s how we’re going to make this fun. While we work, Iris is going to tell us things about her life in DC—little stories, random facts—and Ryan is going to see if he can come up with a
Simpsons
quote that fits the situation. Got it?”
    And the thing is, I
know
this is one of those things where grown-ups think they can fool kids into getting along or doing chores by making it into a game—but it actually does sound fun. And once we get going, it becomes a kind of friendly contest; I try to come up with stories that will stump Ryan, and every single time, he manages to find a
Simpsons
quote to match. And it’s not like I’ve never watched
The Simpsons
. Sometimes I throw him an easy one, or surprise him by coming up with a quote of my own. By the time we’re done with the milk cartons, we’ve gotten into songs. Like I tell them about this really cute white fake-fur vest that my grandma bought me, and Ryan sings “See My Vest.” As we’re putting everything back in the shed, I talk about my favorite Mexican restaurant, and how I really liked their gazpacho, and I say along with him, “It’s tomato soup, served ice cold!” And the two of us walk back along the path with Scott, singing, “You don’t win friends with salad,” and doing our own goofy little conga line all the way to the cabins.

chapter 11
Tilly
Date and Location Unknown
    There’s a sculpture that stands in an imaginary square, a memorial to those whose lives were changed by the events of July 14, 2012. This is where the Hammond Living History Society holds its meetings.
    The society was formed in 2017, with the goal of uniting several different existing groups of Hammond history reenactors; the society aims to provide a common network for interested hobbyists, regardless of their level of commitment to authenticity of historical detail.
    Every year, the society sponsors the Hammond Days festival in Laconia, New Hampshire, on a plot of privately