Summary

Chapter 1:

Toby was once a God’s Gardener and now works at AnooYoo Spa-in-the-Park. She is one of the two third person narrators of the novel. The chapter begins in the middle of a “derelict city” (9). Toby observes the vultures roosting on hydro poles from the roof of the spa. She sees that nature is taking over the remnants of civilization. There is evidence of this all around her. There is stagnant water in the spa’s pond and Toby has observed it is beginning to become a swamp. Kudzu is overgrowing the once manicured lawn.

Toby remembers the Waterless Flood that destroyed mankind. How people fell in the lawn calling for help while she hid on the roof. Toby is still afraid of catching the plague from survivors. She locks the spa doors at night and scans the surroundings...