The Garden Of Earth

Once a upon a time, far, far into the future... so far into the future that time had started over... a beautiful fairy full of spunk and curiosity and an excellent aerobatic... flew into a garden of immense proportions. Eager to enjoy the sensuous glory of the garden and replenish herself with the nectar of the dazzling flowers... she rolled herself into the peonies and drank from the honeysuckle. She was always happiest in a garden. The aromas of the blossoms filled her nostrils and the scents had a intoxicating affect on her. The more she breathed in the scents of the lilac, the hyacinth and the roses... the more drunk she became. This garden, she thought... is the best of all gardens I have ever been to. It took her six months to explore the entire garden. She found over seven hundred species of flowers and of course all her favorite herbs and mushrooms were there as well. All sorts of plants and shrubs and trees and flowers grew within this garden... all survived and grew handsomely whether or not they were native to hot climates, cold climates, dry climates or very rainy climates. This garden, she thought, must be the ‘heaven’ of all gardens. The birds and the bugs ate and sang merrily everyday.

All life in the garden hummed and after every shower a rainbow appeared over the treetops. Although Theora often went on her own adventures, this was the longest she had ever been away from the company of her kin. It was time to go back, tell others of the garden and show them this place: the heaven of all gardens. She flew up to the top of the tallest redwood tree to get her bearings. From as far as she could see, in every direction, there was the garden. How did I get here? Her home , where her kin lived and played seemed like a vague memory... she couldn’t quite remember it or the faces of her kin... everything was a bit blurry and out of focus. This vexed Theora. She pulled out her clear glass ball of seeing from her pocket and unwrapped it from its’ green satin cloth. She pressed the ball to her forehead and called for the power of seeing to show her the faces of her loved ones. Images tried to form in the ball but came and faded quickly. She felt an intense longing to see her kin again.

They had often warned her that her travels would take her too far from the center of their world and she might not be able to find her way back. Her mother used to warn her by saying, “If a fairy flies too far from the center of the heart of the kinship, she will lose her wings and all her powers.” Theora had thought her mother was just scaring her... to make sure Theora was always around. Am I losing my powers? She wondered. Theora jumped from the top of the nine hundred foot tree and somersaulted over and over till she landed perfectly on her toes. All is well with my wings... but why can’t I remember the faces of my kin... how will I leave this garden and go back to the center of the heart of the kin if I can’t see their faces? After a while her longing to see her kin disappeared like the dewdrops after the mid-morning sun warmed the grasses. The faces of her kin only appeared when she traveled into the deeper realms of her dreaming. She rarely remembered those dreams. The garden was her home. It was the center of her life and heart now like her kin used to be.

She was always happy and felt the aliveness of all life speak to her in the ways of the natural. She was not lonely for friends because the ways of the natural did not separate her from being spoken to and loved. Every day she communed with the dragon flies, hummingbirds, snails. They shared with her their knowledge of the tastiest plants and the sweetest nectars from the many kinds of flowers that grew in the garden. One day, her friend Hummingbird Bill told her that he had gotten really drunk on the tall dark blue tubular flowers that grew by the marsh of wild grasses. “Check it out, I’ve never been so tipsy from nectar before. That flower is amazingly potent. I was drunk for the entire afternoon. And I had some really funny visions on that nectar.” “Oh?” asked Theora, “What kind of visions did you have?” Hummingbird Bill landed on a twig and preened his wings. He stopped and started in with a few clicks that said, “Well, I saw some really strange kind of creatures, kinda ugly, with no wings, big ugly, dumb things. They where looking at me with their big ugly faces. Weird noises came out of their mouths, no language I could understand, sounded all very grating.

They didn’t seem to understand the natural language. I tell you that nectar was potent, took til the sun went down before the effects of the nectar wore off.” Theora was silent. Hummingbird Bill could see that she was feeling into the puzzle of the mystery of the nectar. “I could show you where the flower is if you want to try it for yourself.” “Alright, Bill. But Bill, you ever wonder about this garden... nothing dies here... and how all kinds of plants grow here and the weather is always... well so nice...?” Dragonfly Tom who had been over hearing the conversation from the leaf above their heads spoke down, “I guess no one told you. We thought you already knew, this garden is a dream of all the beauty of Earth.” Tom waited and watched for Theoras’ expression before he continued. She looked up at him with a puzzled look so he continued with his explanation,”We’ve not physical anymore, nothing here is... being a fairy and having access in both worlds... well Theora, we thought you already knew.” Theora rubbed her brow, is that why I can’t remember... what is it, that I can’t remember? I am not physical anymore? She flew up to Dragonfly Toms’ perch.

She heard the flapping of her wings and she good feel that she was hungry for a good taste of rose petal salad. How can I only exist in the smothen world? I feel physical.” Dragonfly Tom saw her confusion. “Believe me, Theora, this is not a physical world but it appears to be like one. This is the smothen realm...” “But in the smothen realms all I have to do is heart feel my kin and we would be laughing together even right now. I cannot even remember their faces anymore.” Tom appeared confused by this as well. “I don’t know what to make out of that. You being a fairy and having different powers from mine... well you’ll have to solve that one yourself.”