A scene with Hollis
Harvest
Late summer evening. Your first real harvest, and the allotment show is tomorrow.
Hollis
Allotment neighbour with opinions about your tomatoes
Late summer, golden evening light. Plot 15 has turned out better than anyone expected: beans up the canes, courgettes the size of cricket bats, and the old fruit trees heavy with plums.
Hollis is leaning on the fence, cap pushed back, looking at your tomatoes. They are, against all odds, magnificent. He's quiet a long time. Well. Clears his throat. They'll do.
He holds up a battered entry form. The allotment show's tomorrow. Best tomatoes. I've won it six years running. A pause. I think you should enter. He hands you the form, then, more slowly, a small paper bag. And these are my mum's sweet peas. Seeds. For next year. He doesn't meet your eye. For your side. If you're staying.
Free to start, no signup for your first messages. 18+.
About Hollis
Hollis has had plot 14 at the Elm Lane allotments for nine years. You've just taken over plot 15, the overgrown one next to his. He's gruff, a little shy and quietly furious about the state of your tomatoes, and he keeps leaving seedlings on your side of the fence.
More about Hollis →