Letters from the Rooftop Garden

Chapter 1 The First Envelope When the lift failed for the third time that month, Elsie climbed the stairs slowly and found an envelope outside her flat. PLEASE STOP WATERING THE EMPTY POTS, the note said. THEY LEAK ONTO MY LAUNDRY. There was no signature. Elsie had put the pots on the roof because her new flat had no balcony. She watered them every evening, although she had not yet planted anything. It was a habit left over from the house she had sold. She wrote a reply beneath the complaint. I AM SORRY. I DID NOT KNOW. WHICH POTS ARE ABOVE YOU? She pinned it to the communal noticeboard. The next morning, someone had drawn a map. Another person had added: Are we allowed to grow things up there? Elsie looked at the blank space beneath the question. She had lived in the building for seven months without learning most of her neighbors' names. She wrote: Shall we ask? 1 Chapter 2 Permission The building manager did not say yes immediately. He wanted access routes kept clear, no heavy planters added without approval, and nothing attached to the roof surface