Chloe in Willowmere

Mr. Chen arrived at the community garden before sunrise, as he always did — to check the soil moisture, to talk softly to the seedlings, to begin the quiet work of the day. But this morning, something was wrong. Stapled to the chain-link fence bordering the empty lot next door, a yellow notice fluttered in the early spring air: Development Application — Bluebell Properties LLC — Proposed Residential Tower Complex. He read it twice. Then a third time. When Chloe arrived with her morning coffee, she found him standing motionless at the fence, one hand gripping the wire. 'They want to build towers,' he said, without turning. 'The whole garden would be in shadow by noon.' Chloe opened her little blue notebook. Thirty days for public comment. The garden had thirty days.