Sam Miles had advanced very far in life in a rather short time. Oh, he wasn’t actually a ‘rags to riches’ story, but then again, almost nobody is. 99% of the time, anything presented as a ‘rags to riches’ story will turn out to actually be an ‘already quite well off to riches’ story. In Sam’s case, he was born to an upper middle class family, and his parents had made sure he got into one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Additionally, his father had taught him from a very early age that connections are the most valuable currency in the world. As such, Sam had spent his youth ingratiating himself to the rich and powerful, and as a result, he had essentially started his career more than halfway up the corporate ladder. Which was further by far than most people could hope to rise no matter how skilled, talented or hard-working they might be. If Sam had been naturally lazy, he could have coasted on his connections for the rest of his life, moving from his upper middle class origins to a firmly lower upper class lifestyle with no further effort. But Sam had another quality that wouldn’t allow him to rest on his laurels. Namely, he was an extremely sore loser. Anytime he felt as though someone had beaten him at anything, it tore at him like nothing else. If someone beat him in a contest, if someone received higher accolades at an event, if someone got picked for a promotion over him… It ate away at his very soul, and he would do anything he possibly could to ensure it didn’t happen again. And so his working life had turned into a one-man war against the entire world. Fifteen to twenty hour work days became the norm. Favours traded and provided to higher-ups became the most important currency. He even went so far as to spy on or even sabotage his competition. And against all odds, he triumphed. By the age of thirty-eight, he became the CEO of a major company. And once you get to that point, it is essentially impossible to fail. The entire modern corporate world is designed to protect and support the executive class, after all. Unfortunately, while this lifestyle had led to Sam’s ultimate triumph, it was also killing him. After surviving his second heart attack, his doctor had made it perfectly clear that he wouldn’t survive a third. The doctor essentially gave him a choice. Either he could give up caffeine and alcohol completely, get at least seven hours of sleep a day, take regular light exercise and avoid sources of stress… Or he could keep going the way he had and be dead before the age of fifty. After what might have been the hardest decision of his entire life, Sam ultimately choose to live. In the end, Sam had taken an extremely early retirement at age 40. This wasn’t a terrible blow to him. With his assets and investments, he could easily maintain a very comfortable lifestyle without having a single worry about money for the rest of his life. Sure, it wasn’t nearly as lavish a lifestyle as he might have afforded if he kept working. There’s practically no end to how much money a CEO can reward himself with, after all. But frankly, Sam had never really cared about the trappings of luxury. He’d only ever played the game for the sake of winning. But things were different now. He had a big, beautiful house out in the countryside, where he lived together with his housekeeper, his cook and his accountant. He took regular walks out in the nearby woods, he listened to music and read books, he socialized with his neighbours… Well, those among his neighbours who were open and friendly and not too smelly, anyway. There were a number of farmers in the area, and they were a little too ‘earthy’ for Sam’s tastes. He had even taken to doing a little bit of gardening, as a hobby. And so, as he came walking home one evening after a lovely summer stroll through the woods, he called out a cheerful greeting to one of his favourite neighbours. “Evening, Rachel.” “Evening, Sam.” “Lovely weather we’re having, isn’t it?” “Oh, absolutely. It’s been such a joy. And my tomatoes are absolutely thriving. I’ve never had such beautiful, vibrant fruit before. Makes the pale things they sell in the supermarkets look absolutely dreadful by comparison, quite frankly.” “Oh really now? Well, congratulations to you and your tomatoes, then.” “Why thank you, Sam. Oh, but I must be going. My Jon and little Timmy are waiting for their dinner.” “Then by all means let’s not keep them waiting any longer than necessary. Have a good one, Rachel.” “And you, Sam.” Once Sam got back to his house, he cast a glance at his own tomatoes. Even the early varieties were only just starting to ripen, and there were strange little crusty lines and odd deformations on a number of them. Oh, they’d probably turn out edible enough, but… That night, Sam was on the computer, restlessly switching back and forth between a dozen different tabs all related to agriculture in general or growing tomatoes in specific. With a huff he opened up yet another tab to order some plant nutrients from a gardening store. “I’ll show you tomatoes that put supermarket produce to shame…” He muttered darkly. “Just you wait.”