The Tangled Tomato Vines

Mila had a small garden plot at the end of Elm Street. Rhys had the next plot. They planted tomatoes on the same weekend in May.

Mila punya petak kebun kecil di ujung Elm Street. Rhys punya petak di sebelahnya. Mereka menanam tomat pada akhir pekan yang sama di bulan Mei.

By July, the tomato vines grew tall. They climbed over the low fence between the two plots. Mila's vines mixed with Rhys's vines.

Pada bulan Juli, sulur-sulur tomat tumbuh tinggi. Sulur-sulur itu merambat melewati pagar rendah di antara kedua petak. Sulur Mila bercampur dengan sulur Rhys.

One evening, Mila came to water her tomatoes. She did not know which plants were hers. "I think our tomatoes had a party," she said.

Pada suatu sore, Mila datang untuk menyiram tomatnya. Ia tidak tahu tanaman mana yang miliknya. "Kurasa tomat kita sedang berpesta," katanya.

Rhys laughed. "I can't find my tomatoes either," he said. "They are all mixed together now."

Rhys tertawa. "Aku juga tidak bisa menemukan tomatku," katanya. "Sekarang semuanya bercampur."

They looked at the vines for a long time. Finally, Rhys had an idea. "Let's just share them," he said. "We can pick tomatoes from both sides."

Mereka memandangi sulur-sulur itu lama sekali. Akhirnya, Rhys punya ide. "Kita bagi saja," katanya. "Kita bisa memetik tomat dari kedua sisi."

Mila smiled. "That sounds fair," she said. "But we still need to fix this fence."

Mila tersenyum. "Kedengarannya adil," katanya. "Tapi kita tetap harus memperbaiki pagar ini."

The next Saturday, they met at the garden with new wire. They added a new row of wire above the fence. Now the vines stay on each side. It took them two hours.

Sabtu berikutnya, mereka bertemu di kebun dengan kawat baru. Mereka memasang satu baris kawat baru di atas pagar. Sekarang sulur-sulur itu tetap berada di sisinya masing-masing. Pekerjaan itu memakan waktu dua jam.

When they finished, Mila picked a basket of tomatoes from both plots. "Come to dinner tonight," she said. "I'm going to make a sauce with all of these."

Setelah selesai, Mila memetik sekeranjang tomat dari kedua petak. "Datanglah makan malam malam ini," katanya. "Aku akan membuat saus dari semua ini."

Rhys nodded. "I'll bring the bread," he said.

Rhys mengangguk. "Aku akan membawa rotinya," katanya.

That evening, they ate pasta with tomato sauce. They sat at Mila's small kitchen table. The sauce had tomatoes from two gardens. Nobody knew which was which.

Malam itu, mereka makan pasta dengan saus tomat. Mereka duduk di meja dapur kecil Mila. Saus itu terbuat dari tomat dari dua kebun. Tak seorang pun tahu mana yang mana.