The Garden

A young girl discovers a family secret during a summer week at her great-grandmother's

It's been twenty years since I walked in the garden. The last time I even thought about the garden was at my great-grandmother’s funeral. I drove past where it used to be one day recently and noticed a playground and picnic area there now. It's nice to know that such a beautiful place is now being used for the happiness of a new generation.
                It was the summer right after my sophomore year, and my parents had to go away for a week on business so I was sent to stay with my great-grandmother. There was never much to do there, but it was always peaceful and relaxing. 
                One day that week, my great-grandmother went out for the day to play bingo and I was left by myself. I decided to take the keys from the candy dish and explore the small forest area in the back of the house. After making sure the back door was locked, I walked towards the border of trees that led into the forest.
                I made my way past fallen tree limbs and into the forest. It seemed like the farther I walked, the darker it got. All around me I heard the songs of the birds and the chattering of squirrels. There was a wonderfully light breeze playing across the back of my neck.
                I knew I was getting closer to the heart of the forest. The trees were older; I could tell by how tall and wide they were. The branches were covered in leaves and the bird song was almost gone. I finally made my way to the heart of the forest after what felt like hours; but looking back it was actually only twenty minutes. As I cleared the dense woods and stood at the edge of the clearing of the forest, I felt the world open up before me.
                The grass in the clearing was so beautiful that I took off my shoes before stepping on it. There was still a light breeze here and the whole clearing was so serene that at the time I thought that I had accidentally walked into heaven. There was a small stream of fresh water a little further ahead of me that I went to take a drink from before taking in more of the clearing. I lay down and stared up at the never-ending sky of green leaves. The tops of the trees opened up slightly giving a small view of the sky.  I saw clouds listlessly floating by in the bright blue sky.

A little deeper into the heart of the forest was a small and steadily flowing stream filled with fresh water.  I bent down to take a drink and was amazed at how cold and delicious the water was.  I was in love with this clearing. The steady flow of the water started to make me drowsy, so I went to lie down on my back and closed my eyes while listening to the stream and feeling the breeze across my face.  This was my Garden of Eden. 
                I turned over on my side and noticed a small patch of wild flowers spread randomly throughout the clearing. I picked one and put it in my hair before turning onto my back again. I must have dozed off because when I looked up again, I seen a boy hunched over me.
                "Are you okay?" He asked in some confusion.
                "Yes, I'm fine." I replied. 
                The boy sat down next to me and smiled.
                "My name is Jack," the boy said. 
                I told him that my name was Brianna and invited him to sit with me.

 "Do you come here often?" Jack asked.
                "No, but my parents are away for a week and sent me here to stay with my great-grandmother." I closed my eyes as I listened to the songs of the birds. "This place is beautiful isn't it Jack?"
                "Actually to me this place is nothing but a bad memory." He looked at the trees spitefully.
                "What do you mean?" I was curious to know how such a beautiful and peaceful place could cause so much pain.
                "A war was fought here. One of the smaller battles in the civil war took place right where we are lying." 
                I could tell that this was a painful topic to him, but my curiosity got the best of me. "Did you lose someone here?"
                "Yes. Most people would look at this place and, like you, would be amazed at its beauty without ever knowing that it feeds on the pools of blood that once laid here." Jack wiped his nose impatiently and watched the clouds with me for a little bit before getting up.
                "I have to go now Brianna." Jack said as he brushed dirt and leaves off of his pants. 
                When I went to open my eyes and say good bye, Jack was gone. I stayed there awhile longer before walking back to my great-grandmother's house. By the time I got in, dinner was ready. 
                "Did you have a good day?" My great-grandmother asked.
                "I met a boy today great-grandma. He said his name was Jack and that he lost family in the war."
                I looked over at her as I said this and was surprised to see how sad she looked. 
                "Is everything okay great-grandma?" I was worried that I had upset her.
                "Yes sweetie, I'm fine. Excuse me a minute while I go and get my medicine." 
                She got up from the table and I heard her close her bedroom door a few minutes later.  Later on in the evening, my great-grandmother called me into her room. When I walked in, I seen an old trunk opened on the bed next to her.
                "What's all this?" I was anxious to see everything in that trunk. 
My great-grandmother pulled out a very old photograph of a young boy that I recognized right away; it was Jack.
                "That's him! That's the boy I met earlier today!” I was a little shocked to see his picture in her trunk. "How did you get this picture?"
                "Brianna, sweet heart, we need to talk. Jack was my brother." My great-grandmother looked over at me sadly as she said this. 
                "What happened to him?" I didn't want to upset her, but I had to know the truth. 
                "When Jack was about your age, the civil war was at its bloodiest. It was brother against brother, father against son. There was no such thing as family on those battlefields."

She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and continued, "at the time every able bodied man was allowed to enlist. Jack was on the battlefield when he was shot by an enemy soldier during one of the smaller and lesser known battles, he died that same day.”

I understood what Jack meant now when he said that the clearing was nothing but a bad memory.  I don’t think I’d respond happily to a place like that either.  All of a sudden, the garden looked foreboding to me.  I was fearful of going back there knowing now what really happened in that peaceful place. 

The rest of the week I busied myself with spending time with my great-grandmother.  I didn’t want to go back to the clearing and risk upsetting her but every night the clearing entered my dreams.  All I wished was to spend an eternity there. 

At the end of the week my parents came and got me and I finished out the summer at home getting ready for my junior year of high school.  The clearing still crossed my mind on occasion, but because I was so busy with homework and school, the clearing started to become less and less meaningful to me.  I was moving on from my garden.

By the time the Thanksgiving holidays came around that year, I had something else to distract me; my great-grandmother had passed away.  It was a tough time for me, and it hurt a lot to lose her.  But I learned to cope with it and I learned to not dwell on the pain of loss but on the happiness of memories. 

I rode my bicycle by her house every so often, and every time I seen that clearing, I was tempted to go back and look for Jack.  But I never did.  The last time I went to my great-grandmother’s house was the summer right after I graduated high school.  I left a bouquet of roses in front of the door as a memorial to her. 

Sometimes I still think about that day in the garden.  But now I’ve become busy with life and my own family.  I never went back to the garden.