The Gardener and the Rose

The is a story of a gardener, which lived in a castle far, far away, in the heart of the woods. His life was relatively simple, I mean...how hard can the life of a gardener be, right?! But it wasn't that simple, after all. He got betrayed over and over, his beautiful field of roses trashed and destroyed by many. He went mad after a while and left the castle. After a few years, the castle became deserted, everyone dying, mostly because of the heartache of seeing the gardener suffering and leaving. The castle started to be in ruins, the thorns from the gardener's home filled the entire castle. There is a legend which talks about this castle and what now lies there, and about the gardener.

The gardener left the castle, in pain and going mad. His garden was full of beautiful plants and flowers. But his love and heart belonged to his dear roses. Roses so beautiful, they were known far and wide in the world. After he left, the roses become overwhelmingly aggressive, their thorns hurting, cutting and stabbing anyone which came too close. People in the castle died of grief for the gardener, for they were not able to help him in any way... They left the castle because the roses drove them away, shall we say.."corrupting" the castle and it's corridors with veins full of thorns.

The bond shared between the gardener and his roses was strong, whatever happened to one, the other feels and senses it. The roses were reflecting the gardener's heartbreak, the pain in his soul and heart from the betrayal, so the roses started to drive away everybody from his home.

Years passed, and the castle which was one a wondrous sight is now like something from your darkest nightmares. The Gardener never settled in any place, he was like a ghost...going from place to place, always alone. One day, while wandering some dark woods, in a night with a full moon, he got lost. Wandered away from the path...He felt danger closing in on him. Danger so great, that he felt it's the end. He crawled somewhere in the shadows, somewhere where he could see only in front. But there was nothing to be seen. The light of the moon couldn't reach the ground in those woods. He stayed there, waiting for his end to come, for his final rest. He wanted to rest finally, regardless if it's peaceful or not. Hours passed, but..nothing ever happened. It was around midnight when he heard the wind blowing for the first time in those woods.

He crawled out of the place he was hiding. When he looked around, he saw a wolf, sitting in the middle of a forest path. It was the only place where the moonlight came through. He felt the wind blowing his way and felt a beautiful scent. That scent seemed...familiar, gave him a feeling of security. It was coming from the direction of the wolf, which was looking straight at him.

The wolf was just sitting there, watching the Gardener getting closer. When he got to the edge of the ring of moonlight, the wolf ran away.

"Heh...I should've known that it was too good to be true..." He said filled with sorrow. And he went under the light, just to watch the moon. After a few moments, he felt another breeze, with the same scent like before. When he turned to the direction from which he came, he saw a path vaguely lit by the moon.

"I've got nothing to lose...why not? Maybe I will find a place where I can finally rest. Maybe these woods will offer me an ending worthy of this useless sack of bones..."

He started walking on that path, carelessly, he didn't care if he was hitting his face or body with the branches from the trees. He was already done with everything. He was fed up with everything and tired...

His journey on that path was long and tiring. He felt more tired than before. After a long walk, which seemed like days...he saw something familiar in front of him. Something he didn't see in years.

"Here?! Why here?! It's in ruins, it's...." He yelled furious, then gazed upon a small path, where the thorns weren't growing. They avoided it. There were no flowers along the veins, only thorns.

He walked down that path, as he got closer, he felt the scent becoming slightly stronger.. "I am sorry for making you like this, tho I think you are better this way, no one can harm you" he said while looking around, along the path and gently touching the thorns.

The path continued to the courtyard. It was the only clear path in and out of the castle. He couldn't understand how was that possible. As he entered the courtyard, he saw the origin of the thorns. The veins were coming out from the ground like tentacles, grappling and wrapping around everything it touched, like the Kraken when it was sinking a ship. It was a sight of terror.

It was the same with the Gardener's heart. But, there was something he couldn't believe to see, if he wasn't there: he saw a small rose, in the middle of the thorns. And beside it, taking care of it, in a very lovely and gentle way, there was a young girl with long, black hair and a lovely and long dress. She was admiring the rose and caring for it, like it was her own.

The Gardener stood there, in shock.

The girl looked up and saw the Gardener, "Ohh! I'm sorry! I saw all these rose thorns and I came here to take care of this small little rose here. I hope you aren't mad for me taking care of your rose" she said in a slightly sad and shy voice, looking quickly down. She raised her head and says with a kind and innocent smile "My name is Rose, by the way!"

The Gardener walks slowly closer, still in shock for seeing someone there.

"I-it's alright, I don't mind...pleased to meet you, r-Rose...how did you get in here?! You cut your way through the thorns?!" ("No...it can't be...but...HOW?!")...

"I was taking a small walk in the woods nearby, and felt a lovely scent of roses. And no, I didn't cut anything, the thorns simply cleared a way for me, I don't know how..it's like they have a mind of their own" ("yes...my mind, heart and soul...").

He walked closer to her..."How come you stayed here and started caring for this rose?"

"Well, I just felt that it was feeling sad and neglected, in the need of affection.." the gardener smiles as she talks "...and, most of all, love" He forgot he knew how to smile, tears finding a way to his eyes "Why are you crying, sir?"

"I never thought I will ever be able to smile again and especially have tears. I assume you really love roses, don't you, Rose?" He said, smiling and slightly crying.

"Y-yes, I do. That's why my parents gave me this name. I loved roses since I was born"

"And that is why you stayed here, caring for that little, broken one. Because of your love for roses?"

"No, because I wanted to. Something about this small rose, in particular made me fall in love with it. It has nothing to do with it being a little or broken rose. It has something special, which made me want to stay by it's side, caring for it and loving it."

The gardener falls to his knees, eyes in tears.

"Are you okay, mister?!"

"Y..yo-...you love that...small..ugly and broken flower?!" He asked, fighting the sighs and tears falling down his cheeks, while standing up and looking at her.

"Don't try to say that it's a mere flower! It has it's own beauty and mystery! It may be small and broken, but it doesn't mean it's ugly! Beauty isn't about what there is at the surface! Beauty is about what's here!" And she puts her hand to her chest, in front of her heart.

The Gardener does the same.. ("in...here?")...he smiles kindly and happily. "And you would stay here, just to take care of this rose?"

"I would stay here to take care of everything. Everything here is this particular rose!"

As she says this, he gently moves her to the side and stands between her and the rose.

"Well, my dear Rose, please do take good care of my heart, as you can see, it is indeed fragile" and he touches gently the small rose. "I would bid you farewell, but I shall always be here. Thank you for everything, Rose!" As he says this, he slowly starts fading away.

"What? Hey! Where are you going?!"

"I am going nowhere, Rose. I shall always be here. Remember, take good care of my heart. And thank you for caring for it when it was at it's lowest!"

As he disappears completely, Rose looks around and sees the thorns going away, retracting, disappearing, falling. The once grim sight is now a lovely medieval landscape, with the sun shining bright over the land.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

You did very well.
"As he disappears completely, Rose looks around and sees the thorns going away, retracting, disappearing, falling. The once grim sight is now a lovely medieval landscape, with the sun shining bright over the land."
I liked the closing lines. Great use of description and amazing characters. The story line brought the reader in. Thank you my friend for sharing the entertaining and worthwhile story.
Coyote