My Fresh Hell
Life in Scribbletown.

Her Secret Garden

2006-02-08

"Tell me about my garden."

For the umpteenth night in a row, spawned by an inexplicable obsession with tornados, Dusty needs help going to sleep. Once asleep, she'll wake up with bad dreams and end up spending the rest of the night in bed with me.

And so I begin:

"Well, when you step out the front door, the porch is covered by a trellis. Roses of all colors grow up the trellis and over the top, forming a roof. Yellow, orange, white, red, purple, pink and peach colored climbing roses tangle themselves up and make a beautiful tunnel for you to walk through. You can pick a few to put in your hair and the thorns won't prick you.

"The path is moss-covered so when it's really warm, you can walk in your garden barefoot and feel the soft furry moss between your toes.

"The path meanders in different directions and is bordered by walls of bushes � as high as your shoulder � so when the wind is blowing, you are protected. You can even go out for a walk in the winter and the wind won't bother you.

"All along the path are little secret dead-ends with animal statues - here a fox, there a bunny - and benches and gazing balls. All your favorite flowers are blooming � tulips, daffodils, lantana, moss roses, sunflowers (there's a whole sunflower forest in one part of the garden), roses, butterfly bushes, pansies, snowdrops, grape hyacinths, zinnias, marigolds, nasturtiums, even hibiscuses. There are purple irises and tiger lilies.

"In the middle is a fountain � three-tiered � with a fairy on top. The fairy holds a horn and the water spurts out of the horn and down, blurp, blurp, blurp, all the tiers of the fountain. You can throw pennies in the fountain and make wishes. And they all come true. And when the fountain is full of pennies, the garden fairies take them and buy more flowers for the garden.

"Around the fountain is an herb garden with basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary bushes, lavender, chives with the funny purple round flowers, thyme, marjoram and lemon balm. There are honeysuckle bushes here and there and you can smell them wherever you happen to be. And though they are full of bees, the bees won't sting you because you're their favorite person. They work for you, fertilizing all your flowers and making honey for your toast.

"You have carried your lunch with you, and a blanket. You lay down the blanket and open your bag. You have brought a hummus sandwich on pumpernickel bread, an apple, and a huge chocolate brownie. And a bottle of water. The ants are your friends and don't crawl all over your food. You have a special lunch packed just for them: some stale sugar cookies and a banana peel. The ants carry their feast back to their colony to feed the queen and make the babies nice and plump.

"You lie on your back and watch the clouds move across the blue sky. The sun is never in your face but hidden behind a friendly cloud. The day is warm and there is just a tiny breeze � just enough to move the clouds from here to there.

"You eat your lunch and fall asleep. Fairies come and cover you up with a flower petal blanket they made just for you.

"When you awake, you can play in the three-story tree house that surrounds the giant oak tree at the end of the path. You can stand at a window and watch the rain fall.

"Then, you slowly walk home past blueberry bushes (you fill your mouth as you go) and hollyhocks. The sun is going down and the full moon is coming up to shine over your garden all night long.

"Good night. Good night."

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10:45 a.m. ::
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