• The Timeless Garden- Chapter 1- Faeries?

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    I never thought they were real. Just some majestic creature people told stories about and passed onto their grandchildren. But when I entered that beautiful garden, that lucky day, my unimaginative mind began to explore much more than I ever thought possible. But, it wasn’t my imagination. It was real, all of it. Even the love I felt for them. The love I felt for him.

    It all happened the day my grandma died. She was the only person that understood me, knew what I felt and believed things others would think were crazy. I come across as really weird to people, but I just see things differently than they do. My grandma told me that because of my special ability, I might find something amazing in her garden in her backyard.


    “Penny, please take care of my garden and all that is in it. It will return the favor. It is something I have given you. It’s the only precious thing I have, besides you, my dear.” She said weakly in her rocking chair.

    “But, Gram, how will a garden take care of me?” I said, my eyes pleading up to her in tears as valuable seconds passed.

    She only smiled and breathed her last words. “You’ll know, Penny. You’ll know.”


    It’s been a week since that day. I wanted to go into that garden and cry. Cry until I fell asleep with the beautiful green canopies above me. Nothing else in the world mattered to me now, except for that garden. I stared from my bedroom window with my head cradled in my folded arms. My tears made me cold and uncomfortable.

    “What all could be in there?” I looked at how small it was. “It’s just a garden. Flowers, grass, bugs…”

    “Penny, come here! Get over here, now, useless girl!” My grandfather’s fierce voice snapped me out of my daydreaming.

    “Coming!” I wiped my tears.

    My grandfather, (He isn’t my real grandfather, more like a step-grandfather.), was not someone to mess with. Especially since my grandma is gone now. He wasn’t that nice to begin with, but he said that grandma was the only good thing to happen to him. He said she made him feel important and joyful. She made everyone feel like that.

    “Penny, your good-for-nothing parents left you to me and your granny, so I expect to see you working around here more often, okay? Just because you were lucky enough for us to take you in, don’t you think even for a minute you can just sit around daydreamin’ all day!”

    I shook my head, face as red as a beet. I was puffed up, trying not to cry.

    “Now,” Grandfather calmed his voice down as if he didn’t want to yell in the first place. “Pick up that bucket and get to cleaning. You’re, what, twelve--“

    “Fourteen.” I piped.

    “Yes, well, you’re old enough to handle cleaning, right? So, get it done before I get back from work. Three hours.”

    I nodded and picked up the bucket. He was off. I looked at the house and how filthy it was. I guess because Gram did all the cleaning downstairs, and Grandpa never helped out.

    Halfway through dusting the windows, I got distracted by the garden outside.

    “Maybe just a little peek.” I whispered, setting the duster down on the window sill.

    I clicked the lock to the porch outside and stepped carefully onto the stepping stones on the grass. Walking cautiously toward the vine-consumed gate of the garden, I made sure my grandpa was gone. I looked out from the corner of the house and saw the empty driveway: no old blue Ford truck. I continued to the gate and carefully turned the plant-invaded knob. Just then, I felt something strange. Something similar to when you feel in your heart that something is right.

    I took a look back at the house and closed the gate behind me. Above me, canopies of leaves and flowers hung like a tent, making the inside shady and mysterious. The quiet crunch beneath my feet was the only noise I heard. All of a sudden, I heard something rustle somewhere close above me. It sounded too big to be an animal. The rustle wasn’t like a squirrel jumping from branch to branch; it was like someone bumping into a bush.

    “Hello?” I said loudly.

    “Hello?” Someone mimicked.

    I jumped back a bit, falling into what seemed to be a trap. One of my feet was pulled by a vine, pulling me to hang upside down from a tree. Naturally, I tried to break free, but it was no use.

    “Hello? Is anybody there?” I screamed, struggling to get the stupid vine off my ankle.

    After a few seconds, something came slowly hovering around me. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was a boy, flying, staring at me. At first I thought something was causing my vision to be taken over by the blood rushing to my head, but then he spoke.

    “Who are you?” He asked.

    His brown hair and green eyes dazzled me. His stern face was very close to mine.

    “Uh, P-Penny.” I stammered.

    “You shouldn’t be here. You need to leave, now.”

    “I’m a little tied up at the moment!” I yelled.

    “What are you doing here anyway?”

    I sighed and tried to get the vine off. Failed that, flipping upside down again.

    “Look, can you help me out?” I said, getting tired of his not-helping-you attitude.

    “I’m Jeremiah.” He said this regrettably. He held out his tan hand.

    I hesitated to touch it, knowing I already looked idiotic enough, hanging from a tree and all. I did the best I could to shake it back. I reached out and… yes! It was real.

    “Nice to meet you, really, but do you think you could get me down from here?”

    He gave a small smirk. “Sure.”

    I heard a whack! And the next thing I knew, I was on the ground with a thud.

    “Gee, thanks…” I rubbed my neck.

    Jeremiah floated close to me, still off the ground, and held out a hand to help me up.

    “What… are you?” He asked.

    “Me? What are you?” I walked around him.

    His outfit was made from leaves, vines, twigs and plants. He was tan with somewhat rosy cheeks.

    “I am a girl.” I said, examining his clear, long wings.

    He looked at me with a puzzled face. “A girl?”

    “A human?” I tried.

    “Human?” He repeated. “Well, I am a faerie.”

    I tried to touch his wings, but he fluttered a few feet away before I could.

    “I’ve never seen a faerie before. Do you live in the garden?”

    “Yes. And right now I’m waiting for my friend.”

    He drifted down to the dirt path next to me and lifted my foot with the vine around it. He took out a dagger and cut the rope-vine.

    “Your friend? Is he another faerie?” I asked with interest, taking in all the excitement.

    “Not exactly.” He laughed.

    I heard a loud breathing behind me and felt warmth on my neck. It sent shivers down my spine. Turning quickly, I faced a huge moose. I gasped and stumbled backwards onto the leafy garden floor.

    “This is Red.” Jeremiah said proudly.

    “H-hi there, Red. G-good moose.” This was no ordinary moose. It was like a super-moose. The size of it left me in shock on the ground.

    “Aw, he won’t hurt ya! Come on, up you go.”

    “Wait, what? No! No!” Jeremiah hauled me onto Red’s back. He sat behind me and away we went.

    The garden had to be as big a real rainforest, not the small canopy-covered patch I saw out my window. This all felt like a dream. Like I was imagining it all in my head, as if I had fallen asleep on the windowsill while I was dusting. But this was real.

    Red finally came to a stop at a small hut in the trees made of, you guessed it: plants. Good thing I wore jeans.

    “Isn’t it great? Come on.” Jeremiah flew inside leaving me on the monstrous beast.

    I tried my best to gracefully slide down Red’s side, but I ended up just falling down in the dirt. I sighed and dusted myself off. Climbing into the little plant-house, I couldn’t believe my eyes.