The Garden Thief

Many things in nature are silent, because they chose to be. The contests for human attention had become too troublesome. Nature has chosen silence to its own destruction. However, in the beginning, the world was full of wild and envious things. At first these natural forces spoke with light and gentle touches. A caress of the wind. An unexpected warmth on the skin. Then they learned to speak through whispers. As people began to listen to these whispers, other natural forces became jealous. Each plant, animal, and element started discovering new methods to continue vying for attention. Many of these natural forces began sending gifts to their human followers. Greedy humans savagely took advantage of these gifts.

A group of humans had taken a great interest in a large lake. This lake provided them with food and nourishment. A silent moon grew jealous of this lake. It wasn’t too much longer before the jealous moon sought the same human affection. The moon shot down a brilliant ray of light that struck through the heart of a lake’s water. A weary human traveler stumbled upon this ray of light in the early evening hours, and became entranced by this display. He warily trudged through the murky water until he reached the light. As he stepped inside the pale ray, the jealous moon spoke to him, and bequeathed its knowledge and magic.

The weary traveler taught other humans about moon magic. The lessons from this weary traveler were carried to other humans. Many humans began traveling to this lake to be blessed by the moon. These humans worked together to build a magnificent moon temple made from moonstones and pearls. The lake grew furious and began taking away its gifts. To protect its human followers, the moon created a magical garden. Every flower in this garden offered a unique gift that the human followers devoured. These followers began to fear that others would try to steal these gifts. A massive wall of selenite, labradorite, and opal was built around the temple and the garden. This seclusion allowed them to study the moon’s gifts without worry. As years continued to pass, the magical gifts began to alter these human followers. The followers also became highly suspicious of all outsiders.

Years transformed into centuries. A pillaging thief, desperate for food and gold, stumbled upon this hidden wall. She lowered her black mask bewildered by this discovery. This luxurious wall was concealed by large woodland trees. It was only a few miles from a massive kingdom. She saw a vague pale glow emerging from behind the wall. She removed her climbing rope from within her black purse, and set to work placing it against the wall. Climbing was eerily unchallenging. She felt like some mysterious force was welcoming her.

She peeked over the wall’s edge. There was a luscious garden full of pale flowers and shrubbery. A glistening temple resting on a hilltop overlooked this garden in the far distance. Nobody was in the garden, nor could anyone be seen within the temple; and yet, there was a feeling of some strange presence standing watch. The thief decided that it would be worth the risk to investigate. She finished climbing to the edge of the wall, and retrieved her climbing gear. She set the gear to allow her to climb down the other side. The thief found that climbing down, into the garden, was even easier.

She landed on paved dirt, and scanned the area around her. She stopped scanning the area upon viewing a row of hydrangea flowers. These flowers grew all along the wall. The flowers were in colors of pink, purple, and blue. What had caught her attention was the sight of these various colors alternating to follow the breeze of the cold wind. The colors continued to move like a gentle wave flowing through the flowers. The thief bent down and gently plucked a hydrangea flower from the others. The wave of colors kept moving along without fail.

On the flower the thief removed, the individual flower petals alternated wildly in her hand. Securing the flower in her black purse, she made the climb back over the wall. She sprinted back to her hidden shack. That night, she removed each of the colorful petals from the hydrangea plant. The thief ground each of the petals into a fine powder. With the bristles of a brush, she applied the powder to her checks like a rouge. A tender radiance emanated from her skin. This powder had gifted her an unusual grace. This mysterious magic compelled her to return the following evening.

The thief was able to make the climb within minutes. The garden remained as eerily silent as the night prior. She made her way further into the garden. There, shining under the moonlight, she saw white daffodils growing just above a bush of sweet alyssum flowers. She jumped hearing a distant crunching sound. Without hesitation, she plucked a white daffodil and a few sweet alyssums. Full of anxiety, she ran back to the wall. The thief made the climb, and scurried back to her shack.

That night, she filled a bath with milk water. She removed the sweet alyssum flowers from their stems, and scattered them on top of the milk water. She laid in the milk water feeling its liquid cleansing her dirt covered pores. She then placed a daffodil into a small stone bowl. Lighting it on fire released a sweet dazzling fragrance that draped her like a mist. Closing her eyes she fell asleep in the warm milk bath.

Awakening, she felt that the warm liquid had turned cold. It’s white milky color had faded. The daffodil laid in a smoldering heap of ash. The thief stood and stepped out of the bath. She paused, staring at herself in the mirror. A stranger with her eyes now stood reflected back at her. These two flowers working in tandem had given her great beauty and an unspoken purity. She had become far fairer than the youngest of the kingdom’s princess’.

The thief wanted to know what other secrets the garden was keeping. She needed to know these secrets. If she had obtained enough knowledge then she could return to the kingdom as a noblewoman. She would never have to scrounge, or plunder, for food again. On the third night, the wall was covered with green vines. The vines were strong enough for her to climb. She ventured ever further into the garden. Along the way, she removed a bleeding heart flower, a snowdrop flower, and a barcopa flower.

As she ventured near the temple, she saw the twinkling moonflowers. The thief felt overcome with the strongest of urges. She desired that twinkling flower above all others. Before she could get near the moonflowers, the thief caught a glimpse of movement coming from inside the temple. A long thin hand was holding onto one of the pillars. It’s brown leathery skin was hanging from its bones. Frightened, the thief hurried back over the wall. She could not risk being caught.

Back in her shack, she ground the three flowers and mixed them with her spices. She warily mixes these spices into a fine soup. The spices had transformed her soup into a luxury. Stress, and worry, began fading from her thoughts. Her mind soon became blank with innocence. Thoughts of sympathy had filled that blank space. She no longer feared the stranger hiding within the temple. She only desired the moonflower.

However, without her knowledge, the moon’s followers had become aware of her presence. They grew fearful about this stranger. They were even further angered that this stranger did not attempt to ask for permission. They chose to get revenge on this stranger by planting a deadly flower beside the moonflowers. This deadly flower was imbued with an alluring magic.

The thief returned the very next night. She gradually walked toward the moonflowers. A clear liquid filled the bell shaped flower. The thief removed the flower and drank its contents. The clear liquid transformed her soul making it lighter than air. She dropped the flower as its petals withered in her hands.

As she prepared to leave, a new flower caught her sight. It’s white four petals gleamed brightly. The thief plucked this flower and ate one of its petals. Shortly, she felt her throat tightening. Breathing became challenging, and the world began to spin. She heard a dark laughter coming from inside the temple. Feeling overwhelmed, she struggled to escape. The thief barely made the climb to the top of the wall. Unable to climb down, her body fell and collapsed on the woodland dirt.

The moonlight faded into sunlight. A silent sun felt remorse for this dying thief. The sun covered her dying body with its brightest light. The thief felt the poison seeping from her pores. She felt air returning to her suffocating lungs. The thief sat upright, and the beam of light faded away. Once her eyes saw clearly, she noticed that she was laying in a field of marigold flowers. Touching one of the marigold flowers made the petals evaporate into thousands of little golden lights. The golden lights began dancing around her. These lights warmed her cold skin. The sun had saved her life and offered protection. The thief vowed to worship the sun as the others worshipped the moon.