“Jemma chooses!” Ms. Barnes announces when the kids can’t decide. They’re all squabbling over which summer seed to plant.

“Tomatoes,” Jemma says, quietly.

In September, when school comes back, her classmates will harvest armfuls of this fruit. Meanwhile, Jemma will be long gone, putting down roots in yet another school.

Emily Hall’s prose can be found in places such as Passages North, 100 Word Story, Gooseberry Pie Lit, and FlashFlood Journal. She’s a prose editor for Pictura Journal and lives in NC with her husband.