Crickets chirped in the soft autumn night. Gabe rocked on his porch. His rocking chair made gentle squeaks into the darkening sky. Humming a half remembered song, Bobbie Jean wiped the kitchen marble counter. Cinnamon and the smell of a warm oven hung around her shoulders.

Framed in the golden hall light, Bobbie Jean stood at the screen door with two plates of hot apple pie and vanilla ice cream. Gabe patted her rump as she set down dessert. As Gabe raised the first forkful to his mouth, their cell phones beeped an alarm. Bobby Jean sighed and began to rise.

“Settle baby,” Gabe said, “I got this.”

“It’s probably that damn Norwegian. Nothing but trouble.”

“Keep it warm for me and I’ll be right back,” Gabe said.

Bobbie Jean patted his side as he climbed down the stairs heading for the old hay barn. There was not much need for hay barns to feed the animals since the Global Sustainable Plate Act of 2044. Gabe walked towards their barn checking their camera feeds on his watch. He tapped to enlarge the image.

Meat eating already waning was officially banned. Except for the occasional Heresford or Georgia Red in zoos, livestock were liberated and meat eating was illegal. Farmers switched to soybeans, mushrooms, and almond trees and the world was a brighter kinder place.

Gabe slid open the farm door. They grew onions, sweet Walla Wallasand a few criminis and garlic ramps. After the act passes, they nearly starved as the world market reset. Junior and Sally were lost to the measles and the hunger. Gabe shook the memories from his head. With hard work and patience they were good again. Crack! Gabe shined his watch light into the dim barn interior. People slept in tight cages. One or two moaned from the stacked cages.

When the world was turned upside for the better, people stayed the same. A black market of burgers and baby back ribs sprang up immediately. Gabe shined his light. The man, plump with glossy skin, had crawled all the way over to the far window before triggering the bear trap. Gabe waved to the security camera for Bobby Jean and used the gel lift to move the body to the deep freezer hidden behind a false wall. Shame to let all that meat go to waste.

With each year the secret demand as well as the prices inched up. They sold their meat as pork but their buyers didn’t really ask questions. Skilled in the old ways of smoking and salting, Bobby Jean was a good butcher and he experimented with fattening their stock on fruits and pecans. Enjoying the thrum of the crickets, Gabe washed his hands and tidied up. Farming was hard but they were more fortunate than most. He hummed as he headed back home hungry for his slice of apple pie.