Their Garden

The silence seemed to make her smile.

            As stars reflected onto her face, he gently caressed the side of her cheek, lifting away her mane of hair to reveal her pale skin. Her skin seemed to radiate a blue tint; but only in the slightest could he ever see this blue glow. It was as if her majesty was there at the same time that it would fade from the confines of the real world. The hair that so effortlessly flowed from her scalp seemed to want to take root in the ground the same time that it seemed to want to suffocate him in the elegance of the locks of black.

            They lay by the slow-moving river as they spread themselves across the grass. Along the embankment, they felt the safest. No one would ever guess that this place was their hiding spot. It was so remote from the society of which they despised for the most part. They were hidden among the cover of the trees, seemingly taken in by the Mother’s limbs of wood and leaf to hide away from the civilization. The woes of the world were taken away by the gaze of one another and the calming sound of the water making its slow journey down the trench by which it had once flowed with great might. At some points, he wondered what that roar would have sounded like. He asked his companion about it, and she wondered the same. As expected, they would speculate about the roar of the river.

            At a certain time, they would lie on their backs and gaze at the stars and the black-blue canvas of the cosmos. They loved the grandeur of the simple pleasure. It was amazing how such a beautiful thing could hover right over the heads of people, and it would go largely unnoticed. They had an appreciation for the simple beauty of nature that few other people seemed to have. It was something that they shared in common, among the plethora of traits that they did share.

            They loved to spend their nights in this hideaway. Not to be there to do what would have been expected of them, but just to share their company, something that was sacred to them. They needed not the label of pair or couple or ‘soon to be betrothed’, they only needed the simple need of having each other as company. By his thinking at least, he thought they could teach the world a few things, only if that world was willing to listen. The two of them could teach the world what true love is; it wasn’t what is proposed in the theatre or on the cinema screen, but what should truly lie in the feelings. The way that love should be something, not branded any specific name, or given any undue pressure, but something that was meant to be pure and honest. Not an object, but a state of being where you feel that you are inseparable from the person whom you have such strong emotions for.

            But, as they would expect, the morning would come and wake them from their peaceful slumbers. He always expected himself to act as a Guardian, holding her in a protective embrace; one of which he loved to hold her in. In that embrace, he would hold her secure, but softly; just enough to let her know that he would not for a moment think of leaving her, but give her warm skin to feel comfortable upon. She would never object, since she saw him as her Guardian. They would lead themselves out of the forest, not needing to hold each other’s hands, but seemingly having electricity flowing between them that left them with a sense of togetherness. And at the edge of the forest, where society began again, they would walk to their hall of education, only to return back to their sacred place during their sacred night.

            It was during the night in their part of the forest that she broke away from the normal conversations.

            “I remember back when I slept in my house that there was this garden my neighbors owned.” She said. “I always thought that it was beautiful. It had so many roses and daffodils, tulips, flowers of any kind…the bushes and the pathways would complement the vines and the flowers in a way that I can’t really describe. It was all so beautiful. I wish I had a garden like that…”

            “We could.” He said as he smiled. They gazed at each other and shared in their shown joy.

            “We could make a garden?” She asked.

            “Of course we could.” He said. “It would have those beautiful pathways and bushes that you talk about, but those paths would stretch on and on, off into the distance. And flowers, massive beds of flowers, roses, tulips, lavender, daffodils, would be spread all across these places. And there would be rolling hills with the greenest grass that you’ve ever seen. And residing with the hills would be parts of forests where rivers lie and cut through the landscape, but in such a fashion that makes the most experienced of stone carvers jealous.”

            “And there would be a gazebo, with a pond and a fountain in the middle of it.”

            “Well, only of course; and what about swans in the pond? They are quite majestic birds.”

            “Yes, they would be there. Oh, and there would always be stars above our garden; as if the night we love so much were to never end.”

            “And there would be a perpetually setting sun with its dusk seemingly approaching fast upon it?”

            “Yes.”

            “That garden would be beautiful.”

            “I would want to be there all of the time.”

            “And I would be there with you.”

            “And it would be the best place in the world.”

            “We know that it would.”

            They gazed at each other for a little longer and smiled a bit more about this fantasy of theirs. How amazing it would be, they thought as they stared at the stars and fell asleep.

            In their sleep, they met in this garden that they had talked about. Every single little detail that they had thought of was in place; the swans, the dusk, the flowers, the hills, the trees, the river, the vines…it was all there. And it was all beautiful. They were enthralled and ecstatic about their dream and enjoyed the scent of the flowers, the feel of the grass between their feet, they played hide-and-seek in the forests, and walked along the paths that they cherished.

            They then saw their gazebo. Lights had been strung around the railings and hung from parts of the ceiling to light the floor. He took her hand.

            “Now we dance.” He smiled as he said this, and she nodded her head yes in reply. They hurried toward the gazebo and assumed a slow-dance position.

            “We don’t have any music.” She said.

            “Who says we don’t?” He said. She was confused by this, but then she heard the swans singing. Their melodies were perfect and seemed to be like a natural orchestra.

            As they were far beyond happy, they danced to the Swan Songs.

 

            The next morning they were expected to have returned, but they did not. A search party comprised of a few off-duty police officers and friends of the two sent themselves out to find the two people. The party went to every place that they expected the two of them to be, and picked a deserted patch of forest as a last attempt to find them before concluding that they had most likely run away.

            But in that patch of forest, the search party found some strange things. The dirt around the area had been disturbed in a very strange matter, and two slightly large stones were placed next to each other as they stuck out from the ground, and a vine spread between the two stones.

            What was most odd was the swan feather found between these two stones.

            Swans weren’t native to that area.

Reviews

[Ravyne Hawke]

Such a beautiful and whimsical piece.. I love the twist at the end. A lovely romantic tale.

[Jessi Berlasty]

"gaze of one another(,) and the calming sound of the water"

Amazing. You are the epitome of transcendental writing. I love it.

[Hayley]

Ah, a very different ending! I love the imagery I get from this. It's stunningly gorgeous. This is a very sweet story

[MR_BERG]

A nice little fantasy piece. It has the feel of 19th century romantic writing.

[Jibin]

I loved the ending, good work, enjoyed!!
:)

[Short.Nerd]

Wonderful:)

[Lilly Negoi]

that ending part is the real jewel in this writing - spreading a bit of a poe-ish light over the entire action. very nice!

[Coyote Poetry]

Thank you for the powerful and beautiful story. I like how you set-up the ending. The storyline was amazing. A excellent ending to a outstanding story. I appreciate the very good read this early morning.
Coyote