The Garden - The Jew and the Muslim

When you are a child; you don't realize the difference until you grow up and wake up one day when it clicks in your head.

...... two children, around age 7.

"Wow...this is your garden?" Joshua pulled his bangs away from his eyes as he marveled at the sea of green and colors around him. He admired the lemons that were so round and plump that they looked like they were ready to burst and shower them with juice. Guavas, yellow and fat, clung onto the skinny brown branches that bloomed with small pearly white flowers. Leaves that appeared like Elephant ears fanned out with sharp edges. Bees were retrieving pollen from a nearby apple tree. Wild flowers bloomed all across the Garden floor beaming like smiling children faces. 

Sai crossed her arms, grinned, and tilted her chin up, "Yep! This is my garden! My mommy planted all of them," she sparkled with pride as she watched Joshua's face gaze with wonder.

"She must have a green thumb," Joshua said with a smile.

Said expression changed from pride to puzzled, "Green....thumb?" She blinked a couple of times confused then snapped into anger. Her dark, full eyebrows furrowed, " MY MOM'S THUMB IS NOT GREEN!"

Now it was Joshua's turn to be confused. He rose his eyebrows and his mouth slightly opened as he uttered, "I....I didn't mean it literally."

"THEN WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?!" Sai spit.

Joshua ruffled his bangs and scratched the top of his head. He thought for a moment then said, "It's called an Idiom expression. By saying that your mother has a "green thumb" I am saying that she is very good with plants."

Sai was baffled, "Then why don't you just say she's good with plants? Why green thumb?"

Joshua smiled, "It's a lot more fun using idioms. They allow a language to sound very creative, especially when it comes to writing and story telling. It doesn't mean the literal thing. For example, "I'm so hungry I can eat a horse." I'm not going to literally eat a horse but it expresses my hunger quite imaginatively."

Sai shook her head, "I still don't get why there is a need to talk like that."

Joshua grinned. He pulled out a maroon colored, hard cover book from his school bag and opened it, "This book is by Marwin Roch," He chuckled, "It's a very funny story; he tends to use a lot of idioms in his literature," He pushed the open book into Sai's rough hands, "Read this paragraph! He uses an idiom to describe curiosity!" His blue eyes glistened in the sun appearing like two deep oceans filled with treasure waiting to be sought.

Sai held the book in her hands and stared at the words on the page. She looked at each letter individually; one was curved and made in an almost poetic shape. Some were simply lines joined together and others were bent into unusual formations. The black ink allowed them all to remain equal, despite the difference of their appearance. Sai squinted for a moment at them, absorbing the letters then sighed and handed the book back to Joshua.

"Well," Joshua snickered, "What do you think?" His snicker turned into an instrument of laughter and snorted in between while lightly smacking his pale, bony knee, making it slightly reddish in color.

"Wasn't that hysterical? Curiosity killed the cat! Cat's are curious creatures, and to think he used that to describe a murdered cat lady-"

Sai just shrugged.

"Come on! Don't tell me you didn't find that funny?" Joshua continued to hoot but there was a slight hint of annoyance in his voice.

Sai stared at an apple that was hanging on a nearby tree. Red, shiny, jewels hung on the thick branches like rubies. She fixed her gaze on one and watched a little ant make its way down the ruby red skin. She watched as it struggled to find its way off the fruit, going in circles over and over again and then quickening its speed as the small creature panicked. Finally after going round the apple for the 20th time, it found the stem, climbed up onto the branches, and disappeared into the tree's green leaves. 

She then brought her eyes to Joshua's deep blue pools and said flatly, "I can't read."

Reviews

[Priya Tyagi]

I really liked this story. The pauses, the descriptions and the characters. I love the description of the garden and how you have described the fruits and trees. Just as the ant is trying to find a way back to the branch, Sai is probably thinking of how to tell Joshua that she can't read. Also, the difficulty that the ant faces in finding his way reflects the difficulty that Sai faces when she is trying to tell this uncomfortable truth (Maybe I am reading too much into it). A very well written piece. Will surely like to read the second page. Good luck with the book :)

[Sai]

You were spot on! I'm so glad you liked it! I really appreciate that you read into it as well. :) I'm really excited about this book and working on it. :) People like you make me more motivated to continue with it!

[rickm97]

Wow! I love it! Wonderful characters. Wonderful story line. I think I see where its going, but I'm going to let you take me there.
Fantastic job, Sai. Can't wait to read the rest.
Love the garden setting, too.

[Sai]

Thankyou Rick, really appreciate it!