SLIP ’N SLIDE
July 5–9
Map of Maple Street as of July 5, 2027
*116 Wilde Family
*118 Schroeder Family
INDEX OF MAPLE STREET’S PERMANENT RESIDENTS AS OF JULY 5, 2027
100 The Gradys—Lenora （47）， Mike （45）， Kipp （11）， Larry （10）
102 VACANT
104 The Singhs-Kaurs—Sai （47）， Nikita （36）， Pranav （16）， Michelle （14）， Sam （13）， Sarah （9）， John （7）
106 The Pulleyns—Brenda （38）， Dan （37）， Wallace （8）， Roger （6）
108 VACANT
110 The Hestias—Rich （51）， Cat （48）， Helen （17）， Lainee （14）
112 VACANT
114 The Walshes—Sally （49）， Margie （46）， Charlie （13）
116 The Wildes—Arlo （39）， Gertie （31）， Julia （12）， Larry （8）
118 The Schroeders—Fritz （62）， Rhea （53）， FJ （19）， Shelly （13）， Ella （9）
120 The Benchleys—Robert （78）， Kate （74）， Peter （39）
122 The Cheons—Christina （44）， Michael （42）， Madison （10）
124 The Harrisons—Timothy （46）， Jane （45）， Adam （16）， Dave （14）
126 The Pontis—Steven （52）， Jill （48）， Marco （20）， Richard （16）
128 The Ottomanellis—Dominick （44）， Linda （44）， Mark （12）， Michael （12）
130 The Atlases—Bethany （37）， Fred （30）
132 The Simpsons—Daniel （33）， Ellis （33）， Kaylee （2）， Michelle （2）， Lauren （2）
134 The Caliers—Louis （49）， Eva （42）， Hugo （24）， Anais （22）
TOTAL: 60 PEOPLE
From Newsday, July 5, 2027, page 1
MAPLE STREET SINKHOLE
LONG ISLAND’S DEEPEST spontaneous sinkhole appeared yesterday, this time in Garden City’s Sterling Park during holiday festivities. A German shepherd plummeted inside the 180-foot-deep fissure and has not yet been recovered. No other injuries were reported.
This is the third sinkhole event on Long Island in as many years. Experts warn that more are expected. According to Hofstra University geology professor Tom Brymer, “The causes for sinkholes include the continued use of old water mains, excessive depletion of the lowest water table, and increasing periods of flooding and extreme heat.” （See diagram, page 31.） In conjunction with the New York Department of Agriculture （NYDOA）， the New York Environmental Protection Agency （NYEPA） announced yesterday that Long Island’s aquifers have not been affected. Residents may continue to drink tap water.
The NYDOA has closed Sterling Park and its adjoining streets to nonresidential traffic during an excavation and fill, which will begin July 7 and is slated to run through July 18. The nearby Garden City Pool will also be closed. For more on the sinkhole, see pages 2–11.
From “The Lost Children of Maple Street,” by Mark Realmuto, The New Yorker, October 19, 2037
It’s difficult to imagine that Gertie Wilde and Rhea Schroeder were ever friends. It’s even more ludicrous to think that the friendship would turn so bitter as to result in homicide.
Connolly and Schiff posited in their seminal work on mob mentality, The Human Tide, that Rhea took pity on the Wilde family. She wanted to help them fit in. But a closer look belies that theory. When the Cheon, Simpson, and Atlas families moved to Maple Street during the five years prior, Rhea did not attempt the same kinds of friendships. Though she welcomed the families with baskets of chocolate and perfume, by their own accounts, she was cold. “I think she was intimidated,” Christina Cheon admitted. “I’m a doctor. She didn’t like the competition for most accomplished woman on the block.” Ellis Simpson added, “Everybody from around here had family to help them out. That’s why you moved to the suburbs. Free babysitting. I mean, it definitely wasn’t for the culture. But the Wildes were alone. I think that’s why Rhea plugged into Gertie. Bullies seek the vulnerable. You know what else bullies do? They trick people who don’t know any better into believing they’re important.”
It’s entirely possible, then, that Rhea had it out for Gertie from the start.
118 Maple Street
Friday, July 9
“It’s a hairbrush night,” Rhea Schroeder called up the stairs to her daughter Shelly. “Don’t forget to use extra conditioner. I hate that look on your face when I hit a knot.”
She waited at the landing. Heard rustling up there. She had four kids. Three still lived at home. She had a husband, too, only she rarely saw him. It’s unnatural, being the sole grown-up in a house for twenty-plus years. You talk to yourself. You spin.