Homecoming
Harmony House: Episode 37
This is the final episode of my serial novel “Harmony House.” You probably want to start from the beginning unless you’re one of those people who must know how it ends before you start. Each episode comes with high-quality audio narration for you to enjoy on the go with the Substack mobile app.
BONUS: If you missed being able to attend my live performance of this finale episode on May 18th, you can watch the Zoom recording by clicking the button below.
Previously…
In the last episode, all four contestants remaining in Houze made it out safely and were recovering from their ordeal. The Jenson brothers were discussing what to do next when Deepu rode up on an ATV and related everything that had transpired with the terrorists and how he managed to escape. After some speculation about what to do about Fitzpatrick, GreenerTech’s AI fixer, Scott insisted that Eve engage him directly and shut him down, which to everyone’s surprise, seemed to work.
“You want anything?” Chris asked.
“Nah, I’m good.”
From the passenger seat, Scott watched his brother cross the parking lot of the charging station and disappear into the sleek glass building with clean modern lines that had, just months before, probably been a Quick & Go that served fossil fuel and greasy hotdogs that rotated for days under a heat lamp. The shiny chrome logo in futuristic sans-serif on the sign suspended above the building read: “Current” and in a smaller font beneath: “A GreenerTech Company.”
Scott eased the seat back and closed his eyes while the vehicle charged. He was tired but it was a good tired. Because Chris’s family was visiting his in-laws, the brothers had decided to make this a road trip, taking the week to drive across the country.
It had been a rough year managing the fallout from Houze. The investigation and subsequent legal actions had snowballed and would likely take years to completely resolve. The FBI had expanded the investigation to engage a new division of the cybercrime unit focused on rogue uses of AI. GreenerTech’s massive litigation team would be busy for the next decade disputing and settling. Much to Scott’s surprise, Eve Baron had stood up and faced the music for the most part about her father’s sins. But the machine was much bigger than her. There was the board and the shareholders who needed to recover their losses and get back into the black as quickly as possible. While her primary goal was preserving her father’s legacy, she had not turned a blind eye to FutureAbode. In the middle of fending off GreenerTech’s substantial legal threats, she had allowed Scott and Chris to carve out a separation agreement that would allow FutureAbode to control its destiny and have unrestricted use of the technology patents that Houze relied on.
Scott’s romantic fling with Eve had continued for a while, but it became obvious after a few months that they were just too different. The shared trauma they had navigated was not enough to bridge the gap between their worlds. A part of him would always judge her lifelong privilege. She would never understand his stubborn need to have his hands in the work every day which prevented him from dropping everything and going to Bali for the week on a whim.
He pulled out his phone and looked at the text she had sent him last night.
I’m glad you guys are doing this. Give hugs to the gang for me.His thumbs hovered over the keyboard to type a response but then he thought better of it and shoved the phone back in his pocket. He leaned back and closed his eyes again, allowing the morning sun to warm his eyelids. After a few minutes, he was just drifting off to sleep when he heard Chris removing the charging cable from the car. When his brother opened the door and got back in, Scott pretended to be asleep. He didn’t have the energy to talk more. It had been a great trip, the best really, but he just wanted to enjoy being a passenger for this last stretch.
The vehicle moved forward silently and after a few stops and turns they were back on the interstate headed east. Chris played the radio softly and Scott dozed, eventually falling into a deeper sleep that lasted until the smooth ride was disrupted by the bumpy ruts of the old forestry service road.
“Good morning, sunshine. We’re almost there.”
Scott yawned and squinted as he looked over at his younger brother. “Wow, how long was I asleep?”
“About an hour and half.”
“Sorry,” he said. “I was tired, I guess.”
A moment later they passed the widening of the road where they had once parked a year ago to walk up to the old command center. A minivan was parked there with Florida plates and a stick-figure family of stickers on the back windshield. Scott wondered if, in their online listing, the owners had capitalized on the fame of their little rental property. Probably.
“So, this is the new road?” Chris said, nodding at the turn-off twenty yards past the path that led to the old command center.
There was fresh gravel, a shiny new metal gate, and a minimalist aluminum sign off to the side with the words “The Harmony Project” etched into it below a simple logo that was a collection of five abstract rectangles arranged around a sphere.
“Yeah,” Scott said. “Cam’s design is really cool.”
Chris pulled up to the keypad and entered a code which caused the gate to slide open so they could pass. The new road was narrow and followed the line of the trail they had bumped along on ATVs almost a year before. Neither of them spoke. Scott was sure Chris was thinking about that terrifying ride when they were certain four souls they were responsible for would be blown apart and scattered across the field before they could reach them.
They climbed the last switchback and the road leveled and straightened out as it approached the break in the tree line that opened onto the field. Chris slowed and when Scott touched his arm, he stopped the car.
“God, it’s beautiful, isn’t it.” Scott said. It wasn’t a question.
Where once there was the lone, gleaming bar of Houze set into the curved horizon line of the pasture, now there were five and they were arranged in a loose cluster that allowed each to stand alone but be held within the gravitational pull of the group.
“Ha, I see it now,” Chris said. “The design on the sign Cam made.”
“Yeah, it’s perfect, right? C’mon, let’s go.”
As they got closer to the community, people began to appear, and others stepped out of their dwellings to join them as they watched the vehicle approach. Maybe it was the late morning sun, the cross-country drive, or the fact that he had just woken up, but this all felt like a dream to Scott— too good to be real. How many times had he and Chris described some incarnation of this vision before them since they were boys? Why had they been so obsessed with making this little home?
To have a place, he thought— a safe place that could endure, and maybe provide a view of the sky. The safe constant of home was something they never had growing up. This Harmony House (he still refused to call it Houze), was no longer just an idea. Thousands of other people had found shelter and comfort within its walls, and they weren’t all rich people. Eve wanted to retain some residual warmth from the positive glow that FutureAbode had cast on the public pariah that GreenerTech had become. Chris had offered up the brilliant suggestion for GreenerTech to establish a charitable foundation that would give twenty-five million dollars annually to subsidize the cost of owning a Houze for people who would never be able to afford one otherwise. Priority was given to single mothers. The remora fish role FutureAbode played in cleaning the shark that was GreenerTech turned Scott’s stomach but the pay-off was worth it.
Two weeks earlier, he had been on-site to oversee the installation of a thirty-two-home community on a reclaimed plot of land where an old textile mill once stood in a small South Carolina town. He had watched a pack of kids who had never known anything but the dingy walls of cramped government housing squeal as they ran from house to house discovering its secrets and claiming their new beds. Scott had designed a new floor plan that had a sleeping bunk for a child with a small portal window to look up at the sky and a secret compartment to stash a book or a treasure.
Chris parked the car beside two other vehicles and a motorcycle.
“Where are the other cars?” he asked.
“What other cars?” Scott answered, opening his door. “They share these.”
“Wow, they’re committed.”
The five former contestants and survivors of the worst reality television show in history greeted them with smiles and hugs. After the pleasantries, asking about the trip, and commenting on the unseasonably warm day, the group meandered back into the common area between the five homes. Scott had engaged an old friend who was a world-renowned landscape architect to create this space which consisted of a large stone patio terraced on two levels. There was a cedar pergola with an outdoor kitchen on the upper terrace and on the lower one, a seating area around a stacked stone fire pit. While the others were settling into chairs and remarking on the view, Scott knelt to admire the craftsmanship of the ring of stones and noticed the bronze plaque that was mounted in one of the smooth dark river rocks.
In loving memory of our dear friend and reluctant leader, Jessie Mentone.
Thank you for always reminding us to see the forest and the trees.
“You think he would like it?” Jayden asked.
Scott straightened and turned to face her. She smiled her generous smile but there was a lingering sadness in her eyes.
“Yeah,” he answered. “I think he would, but he probably wouldn’t admit it.”
“Probably not. Thank you for all this,” she said. “You didn’t have to do it.”
“Are you kidding me? After what we put you all through, it's the least we could do.”
She squeezed his hand before turning toward the outdoor kitchen. “I’m going to get you both a coffee. You look like you could use it.”
Scott found an empty Adirondack chair between Cam and Riley and settled into it. Chris was sitting in a chair on the other side of the fire pit, and he was talking with Deepu and Fran who sat together on a stone bench.
“So, how are you?” Cam said, in his trademark playful drawl. “We’ve been anticipating your visit. We don’t get a lot of excitement out here these days.”
“Yeah, but I think maybe you guys have seen enough excitement for a lifetime,” Scott said. “I heard you’ve been busy though. I saw the sign out front and heard about the album project.”
“I’m neurotic as fuck about it, but that’s okay. There’s no rush. I hole up in Gladys once every couple of days and lay down a few tracks.”
“Gladys?” Scott asked.
“That’s what he calls his Houze,” Riley said, laughing.
“How about you?” Scott asked, turning to face Riley. “How are things going?”
“I’m okay,” he said after a thoughtful pause. “I think I’m happy, actually. It’s kind of a weird sensation to get used to. I’m still not sure I want to finish my doctorate. I have a few ideas I’m tinkering with. It’s been great to have my own space to do research and come up with things I want to try.”
“Wow, so you’ve made your place into a lab,” Scott said. “Very cool. I’d love to see what you’ve been up to later. Who knows, maybe you could come work for us.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that, but I’d love to show you what I’m doing.”
They were distracted from their conversation when Fran burst into a loud snorting bout of laughter and dropped her face into Deepu’s lap who was also laughing.
“So how long has this been a thing?” Scott asked, nodding at the two of them.
“Oh, don’t get me started,” Cam said. “They’re gross, right? So much PDA, all the time.”
“They’ve been pretty serious since Deepu decided to move back,” Riley said. “You know he was away for a long time. When he got out, I thought he might just sell his Houze and never look back. I think it’s taken him a while to get over Jessie. He still blames himself.”
Scott was aware of Deepu’s treatment because FutureAbode had paid for the facility which was an expense above and beyond the settlement they had given all the surviving contestants. It was good to see the transformation in the young man. He seemed himself, but somehow more himself than he ever had before.
“But why Fran?” Scott asked, leaning forward to keep his voice down.
“I don’t know,” Riley said. “She’s changed. I mean sort of. There’s a side of her that she didn’t show anyone when we were in the competition. I think she’s a big reason Deepu decided to join us. She talked with him every day while he was away. She really loves him, I think.”
“They’re destined to be the power couple in our little commune,” Cam said. “Deepu has big plans to promote a new lifestyle and make off-the-grid living chic. If anyone could sell it, it’s those two, right? I mean look at them. Disgustingly happy.”
Jayden returned to the circle and gave a mug of coffee to Chris before handing the other to Scott. She did not sit but stood between the two groups. After a moment, everyone fell silent and looked up at her. Her large brown eyes were glistening with tears as she began to speak.
“Thank you, Scott and Chris for coming all this way to join us. A year ago, we lost a friend. He was not someone maybe any one of us would have become friends with if we weren’t thrown together. But we were thrown together, and we went through something together that changed all of us. I ask myself how you can miss someone so much that you barely knew. I don’t know, but I miss Jessie. I loved him because he was hard to love but so in need of love. He took care of us in his way. He was brave and he had a big heart.”
Deepu was crying openly, and Fran held a hand to his face. Jayden looked over at Deepu and smiled as she wiped tears from her cheeks before continuing.
“He would not want you to suffer, Deepu. I think, well, it helps me to think that he is at peace now with his little boy, Micky. Jessie carried such a great sadness but hopefully, he’s free of that now. I think he would love what we’ve made here. What? Why are you laughing, Cam?”
“I don’t know, I just think he’d take piss on all this touchy-feelyness.”
“Yeah,” Deepu said, laughing too. “He would. But I do think he’d like that we all decided to make a go of this community thing.”
They were all quiet for a moment and Scott studied each of their faces. For a flicker, he felt a swell of emotion that was impossible to describe. This forced, intentional community forged for all the wrong reasons had become a real community for all the right ones. It was so much greater, so much more significant than anything he and Chris had ever aspired to. It wasn’t about reducing carbon– the world was still on fire. It wasn’t about ten percent year-over-year growth in revenue– they would be lucky to break even. It wasn’t about the prestige of being featured in a dedicated issue of Architectural Digest though that was flattering. It was not the metal boxes he and his brother had made. It was about the people who came together to live in them.
They spent the afternoon cooking in the outdoor kitchen. While it wasn’t strictly vegan and no part of it was delivered by drone, it was a feast, and everyone contributed something. Chris had brought along a case of expensive Pinot. Scott had bought fresh pecans when they stopped in Georgia and made a couple of pies, marveling at how evenly the outdoor oven had cooked them.
At breaks in the action, Scott got impromptu tours of their homes to see how each of the former contestants had made them their own. Invariably, there were some questions and maintenance requests, and he was all too happy to roll up his sleeves and look under the hood.
There was an oddness to the group. As he visited each of their spaces and interacted with them alone and in various combinations, he was reminded of how different they were from one another. They could have taken their free Houze and settlement money and lived almost anywhere and yet they chose to stay here on this mountain. They clearly got some benefit from being together. Riley and Fran still argued. Cam still appeared to have haughty disdain when anyone demonstrated poor taste. Jayden still retreated into a book and Deepu still Instagramed every meal. But beneath these superficial disruptors, there was an underlying current of warmth and belonging. You could see it in the way they teased each other or passed the basket of biscuits before being asked.
Later that night, his belly full, his brain pleasantly buzzed, and the scent of woodsmoke lingering in his hair, Scott lay on his back in the bedroom of the original Houze which now belonged to Fran. He listened to his brother get settled on the pull-out in the neighboring room as he looked up at the night sky. He watched two satellites traverse his rectangular view, nanoscopic vessels relative to the expanse of the galaxy, carrying and transmitting all the ridiculous and sublime digital artifacts of humanity as they floated atop a celestial sea that was oblivious to their presence.
“Hey, you still awake old man?” Chris called from the other room.
“Yup.”
“It’s good, right? We did a good thing here.”
“Yeah, yeah I think we did. But that’s not the hard part.”
“What do you mean?” Chris asked.
His voice sounded as it did when he was twelve and lying in a twin bed just a few feet away in one of the many cramped bedrooms they had shared growing up.
“How do we make good last?” Scott answered.
“Yeah.”
The steady hum from the HVAC switched off and everything was still. In the silence, Scott heard the hoot of a barred owl far off in the woods. He was just drifting off when Chris spoke again.
“Goodnight, bro.”
“Goodnight, little brother.”
~The End~
Acknowledgements
I began writing this novel while I was quarantined in 2020 like everyone else. I was fantasizing about buying some land in the mountains. I became obsessed with eco-homes and sustainable living. I imagined having a communal place where friends and family could be together away from everything. Of course I could afford none of this, so I chose to write about it.
But every writer understands that happy stories where everyone gets what they want are not very interesting so I stirred the pot a bit and “Harmony House” gradually took on a life of it’s own.
My partner, Paradis Ansari was my first reader and her support and enthusiasm are the reason this book made it into the world. I would read chapters to her in the evenings after our little Bella was asleep. I also have to thank my parents. Every Saturday morning I called home and read the latest to them. The best thing for a first draft is having people who love you listen and react genuinely.
Finally, I want to thank all of you who subscribe to Catch & Release and show up every week to read and listen. I know there are many of you I don’t know because you don’t comment or like the episodes, but I’m so grateful for your attention. There is a community of readers and writers who have become dear friends here on Substack and I would like to thank each of them in turn for supporting “Harmony House.”
Thank you to
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .An Invitation to Immortalize Your Words
If you enjoyed “Harmony House” and would like to help others discover it, I would be forever in your debt if you would be kind enough to leave a review of the book here in the comments of this episode. I will compile them into a post to immortalize your words for all to see. Thanks in advance for your support.
Give Harmony House to a Friend
Another truly wonderful thing you could do is give a Catch & Release subscription to a friend or two so they can enjoy the novel and everything else I publish. Sharing books we love with others is a powerful way to connect and help ideas we love find a better foothold in a world that’s filling up rapidly with ideas we don’t. Thank you.
Ready for Another Adventure?
If you haven’t already, you might check out my other novel, “The Memory of My Shadow.” You can enjoy the first two episodes free.
Preview: The Memory of My Shadow
Audio Narration: I’m so excited to be introducing you to a story I’ve spent a lot of time with for the past five years. It’s been a mostly solo journey up to now and I can’t tell you how good it is to have some company for the rest of the trip. Designing the cover, producing and performing the audiobook version along with a musical score, and video trail…
A charming, peaceful and perfectly fitting way to culminate and close off this story, Ben. This was lovely. I couldn't help but jump in and listen straight away, even though I normally save it for my morning commute.
I miss Jessie, too.
I find it hard to believe we've had 37 episodes. That's a large chunk of a year that has flown by with this being a constant throughout. You've kept this up every single week, and not only that, you've done so with narration. That's no easy task, so I hope you can see the monumental achievement that this is. You've also kept us on our toes, with many twists and turns and an entirely believable set of characters. It's been an absolute joy to be a part of it and witness it unfold week by week.
This was a great adventure. And it brought me together with some great people.