Short Story: The Garden of My Heart

I found myself in garden. A vast garden, filled with rows and rows of plants and trees and flowers. As I looked around, I saw that some parts of the garden seemed well kept, planted correctly and properly watered. But in other areas, weeds grew wild and plants looked eaten by by wild animals or pests. The more I look, the more I noticed the former rather than the later.

First of all, I did not know this garden existed. And second of all, I did not know how much work this garden needed. It was too overwhelming to take in. It was so big and there were so many places that needed work. Pests and bad weather had torn up many places. Some places just remained barren, like water or care had never reached them. 

I walked up to a garden bed to my left, discouraged with what I saw. I knew that this garden could be much more. With the proper care, the places of disorder and weeds could be cleaned up. So I got to work. I started weeding and digging out it, one weed at a time. It was hard work but I was so determined to restore this garden to the beauty I saw it was intended to be a long time ago. 

But the weeding was taking more time than I thought. What I thought was such a simple task I realizing was a lot more work. The garden was filled with so many garden beds, with plants and trees and flowers and there were so many areas that needed the work. I realized I couldn’t do this on my own, it was too much.

Overwhelmed, I sat down. Discouraged, I came to the conclusion that this garden was going to remain weedy, disheveled and unruly. It was never going to be cared for in the way that it needed, in order to become the beauty that it was intended. Instead, I felt that it would remain in this state forever because I was just too tired.

“Can I help you?” A voice asked from behind me.

I got up and looked around to see a man dressed in gardening clothes coming over to me. He wore a large brimmed hat to protect Him from the sun and was layered in proper outdoor clothing. Underneath his hat, I could make out a tanned face, a well kept beard, and a bright wide smile. 

“I don’t know, can I help you?” I asked.

He laughed, “Maybe you can.” He said. “What are you doing here?” 

I pause, how did I get here again? “I don’t know,” I said, “I just found myself here and I became overwhelmed at the amount of work I found that this garden needs.”

He nodded, “Hm yes, I was let in here as well only a little while ago myself. But I have been wanting to come in here for a while. Look at the majesty and beauty this garden was meant to become!” He said while guesturing outwards to the expanse of the garden.

“Seems like a hopeless mess,” I said defeated. “Its too much work, I already tried cleaning it up myself.” 

The man paused. “I don’t think you were supposed to clean this up yourself.” He said. “This very well could be your garden, but I am the Master Gardener, cleaning this up is my job.” He waved His hand in a further direction. “Come let me show you what I have done so far.”

The man led me to the center of the garden which was quite a walk away – I had no idea how massive this garden was. In the middle of the garden was a beautiful fountain that was clearly renovated, polished up and now running with water. Around it, every garden bed was filled with thriving plants, varieties of flowers and trees. Some beds even had vegetable and fruit plants blooming. The colors were stunning and the lushness of the area created such a vibrancy that I couldn’t put into words even if I tried. 

“I had no idea this part was so well taken care of.” I said “Its so different than the rest of the garden.”

“Yes, I had to start somewhere, but I am making my way to every corner of this garden. I am going to restore this garden back to exactly how I designed it!” He declared.

“Wait, you designed this garden?” I asked.

“Yes, but I lost access a while ago and have been trying to get back in for a while. I was beyond excited when I finally was let in. I’ve been working on it ever since.”

“It doesn’t feel like it” I said, thinking about all the weeding and digging I had done myself. 

“You know, a good and complete work takes time to finish, but I certainly will finish restoring this garden, better than I even originally designed it to be. I know exactly how to.”

“Why don’t you join me, we can work on this together. It must be exhausting trying to clean this garden up on your own. Plus, I want to spend time with you, get to know you while we work together. Here, you can do the watering. Take the water from this fountain and pour it on what I’ve already weeded and planted.”

The man handed me a watering can. “I’m going to start on this garden bed back here,” He said, pointing to another section of the garden. “If we do it together, we’ll be done in no time! I show you how.”

His hope and enthusiasm began rub off on my as I saw started to see the possibility of this garden’s restoration. He was in fact the Master Gardener. So I set back to work on the garden, this time hand and hand with the Master Gardner, because He knew exactly what He was doing and He was going to fully finish this restoration.