In His Garden
~*~
The Sapling

The angel watched the small sapling sadly as she spread her branches heavenward displaying for a single bright star twinkling overhead a yellow rose and a black rose. That she bloomed so was due to the grafting that both made her who she had become and was the heart of her deep sadness. Near her heart a single firefly glowed, a perpetual light for her love. Also near her heart hung a silver key that seemed to glow from within on a delicate silver chain � the key she had given him to her heart. Near her roots to one side a single pink petal propped up to declare her love for him. In front of her lay a heart formed of small stones she had shifted with her branches, filled in with her tears. As she had shaped the heart in the stones she had shed one tear for each piece of her heart she had given to him. Each tear formed a tiny pearl like pebble as it hit the ground inside the heart. The angel turned to the gardener, "Will her heart ever mend?" The gardener watched sadly, "I cannot say. It is so very badly shattered."

The time of new life had been fast upon the small garden when the sorrow bird flew overhead, dropping a single small seed. Many took no notice if they saw the seed fall at all; others saw little there - just a small un-sprouted seed. But deep in the heart of the seed was a sharp and deep pain, a pain of loss. The seed landed near the center plant in the garden, feeling alone and forsaken. The plant spread a branch in her direction, and set its leaves to offer shade and protection. Over time the winds of the garden pushed her gently, to her dismay away from the plant.

After a time, the seed came to rest against a smaller plant, very like the center plant. As spring came upon the garden the seed began to sprout, where she was so close to the younger plant the two became intertwined and grafted together. The angel had worried for she knew the gardener would soon move the smaller plant and worried about the damage to the sapling the seed was becoming. But the gardener said it must be ~ the seed would draw from the plant to become who she was to be, and he needed her there also for the center plant. The angel asked could he not leave the plant where he grew, but he said no, there was a place already near prepared.

As the time of dancing leaves began to ease into the small garden the center plant and the sapling began to see changes in the smaller plant. The glow of promise of what he might become seemed to dim, though his love for the sapling and respect and love for the plant seemed to burn brighter. As the leaves on other plants in the garden took on the colors of the dance and took to the breezes to dance before the cold days of sleep, the leaves on the small plant seemed to wither and simply fall. As time passed some in the heart of the garden closed around the small plant, to try to protect and nurture him. He would seem to find strength only to loose it again. Through it all the small sapling fed love and energy to the small plant through their grafted branches and stretched her branches to the center plant to offer and receive support and comfort. Others in the garden offered tears, and prayers, and help as they were able.

As the cold days of sleep began to settle upon the garden it was clear the small plant was fading, the center plant and the sapling stayed with the small plant to offer love and peace. The day came when the gardener knew he must separate the sapling and the small plant. The angel was there as he carefully and as gently as he could untwined the two plants, carefully leaving the delicate grafts intact. As he made the final separation a single tear fell sliding quietly down the surface of the small plant.

The gardener turned to the angel, "Come, we will place the small plant in the grand garden where he will flourish." The angel looked back, "What of the plant and the sapling? Their roots have been bruised by this, they will need tending." "Look about you;" said the gardener, "They will draw strength from each other. And see; even now the bluebird and the owl and the butterfly and the hummingbird and the dove fly in, and the Halfling and the pixie peek ever so quietly from behind the center plant. They are not alone, they never were."

(c) Candace 2007