Liam reaches across the table to take Sophie’s hand. “Happy?” he asks.

“Happy, scared, excited, worried. I’m a lot of things right now!”

“Don’t worry. We have a plan, remember?”

Sophie relaxes and smiles. “Yes, and we’re creative, imaginative people!” She repeats their well-worn mantra. “We can do this.”

Sometimes she thinks they must be crazy, leaving their coveted jobs to become self-sufficient. But she really doesn’t want to wait thirty more years to live the life she loves. Now’s the time.

“This afternoon I’ll plow that sunny section for our vegetable garden. Let’s pick out what we want to plant. I’ll learn how to cook them all!” He opens a color catalogue with bright red tomatoes, green peas, yellow peppers, blueberries, strawberries … the pictures are like an art gallery.

“Be sure and include herbs.” Sophie remembers her mother’s window garden and the delicious smells coming from the kitchen of her childhood. “Basil, oregano, parsley,” she begins.

“Now that we have the thyme,” jokes her husband. She rolls her eyes but can’t help laughing. She changes the subject.

“I got an email from Dan early this morning. He wants me to write articles about our new life. Off the Grid Magazine is paying nicely, he says. But I’d rather write fiction, I told him. No problem, he said, OTG loves fiction too, especially flash fiction. So I have an idea for a story.” Her words tumble over each other, and she’s almost breathless with enthusiasm.

“Can you tell me about it?”

“I don’t want to give it away, but it involves bees.”

“Ah, bees. I forgot to put that on our list. I can build beehives and learn the art of beekeeping! That is definitely off the grid.”

Sophie eats the last of her avocado toast and heads toward her tiny sunlit office. She kisses Liam on the forehead. “Enjoy your plowing! I’ll read you my story tonight, at least the rough draft.”

And thus the first week of their Great Resignation begins.