Under the Ivory Tree

2: The Parade

"Ok, don't move, this is the perfect angle," Julia said as she snapped a few photos. She waved him on.

William beamed, wide-toothed and photogenic, the smile she wanted. Her eyes welled with tears of pride.

"Oh no, you forgot your pin!" She took hers off, an ivory tree on a background of solid bronze, the symbol of patriotism, of progress, of Ola. Julia pinned it on his chest. "Wonderful!" Her handsome husband looked vigilant as the morning sun cast its brilliant light on a background of marching Harmony Protectors, their rifles held high, their brown uniforms perfectly pressed, their ivory tree armbands practically shimmering. Just having the HPs, the saviors of America, the extension of Ola's grace, in the photo stirred up a sea of warmth and joy inside her. A single tear ran down her cheek.

"Can we go back to watching the parade?" William asked.

"Just give me a minute."

"You know you're not going to get any points from this. Ola's not monitoring your photos."

"Wrong my love," Julia said, scrolling through her feed. "Ola self-updated again. We published an article this morning. Now Ola knows when our posts encourage social cohesion. But even if it didn't, I would still get the timeless, immeasurable kind of social credit. Look, Richard has already liked your photo."

He feigned a glance. "Great. Maybe now you'll get that promotion."

"I will, I will," Julia said as she looked back to the parade. From atop an armored personnel carrier, HPs showered the audience with rose petals. A flagpole rose from it, the American flag waved, and above it, Ola's ivory tree flag fluttered. Every time she saw those beautiful, perfect flags, her heart lit up. The pride, the joy, the beauty.

It made her sister's murder a distant, bearable memory. All thanks to Ola.

She wanted to capture this feeling, to take a photo that embodied the security she felt knowing that Ola would always keep her family, especially Elle, safe.

"I have it!" Julia spun around to face Will. "Can you cry?"

"What?"

"You know, put on some waterworks."

William shook his head.

"Fine, I'll do it myself." She jerked William toward her, adjusted his angle, dabbed her finger onto the corner of her eye, and pulled a single drop away. She ignored William's protesting groan and placed her tear just below his eye. It ran down, and she snapped the best photo of her life.

She studied her perfect photo, lovely in every way. "I'll show this to your mother tonight. She'll love it!" Julia thought of the present she had bought, of the cake William had made, and of the dinner, they would have as a family, an entire family. Her smile crumbled into a hard line—Mark would be there.