The History of Sound: Stories

A third-person narrator presents the main character Mark’s story. Mark lives on Martha’s Vineyard and works at McAllister Farm & Nursery. For the past few months, he’s been stealing trees from work to resell and make some extra cash. He’s confident no one will notice. He lives with his wife Julia and their 20-year-old son Ian, who recently moved back home. When Mark isn’t preparing the trees he stole for resale, he’s at home on his property. Julia inherited it from her family, including the surrounding land and one odd tree that grows multiple varieties of apples at once.

One night, Mark tends the stolen trees he has hidden on the property and then returns to the empty house. Julia is still at work, and Ian isn’t there, either. Ian has a substance use disorder and recently crashed his car while on opioids. He had to move home to recover, and the doctor told Mark and Julia to get him into rehab as soon as he healed. However, Ian seemed to be doing better, and Mark and Julia put off pursuing rehab.

When Ian started using opioids again, they got worried. They’d already sent Ian to River Valley Recovery Center the year before, and insurance didn’t cover the expense.