The Garden
The Garden
‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever.’ - John Keats, from the opening line of ‘Endymion.’
Heather adored her garden. Now that spring
was here, it was her only wish to watch
it grow and see it thrive, the flowers bloom.
With time, it would become a place of beauty,
where she just might pass the time, serenely.
Since her husband had passed, it was the only
thing she had left that seemed the same. Just like
other years the sole upkeep fell to her,
and although Phil was gone, it was still there
for her to tend and it gave her a sense
of normalcy, despite these new hardships.
Today, she would be planting the rosebushes.
Kneeling down upon the soft dirt, she grabbed
her hand shovel to dig a hole for a sapling.
She struck into the dirt with the shovel tip,
when she hit something in the ground that jarred
her wrist and sent a jolt coursing up her arm.
Pausing to rub the kink out of her wrist,
she shook her head as she peered in the hole.
She could see the top portion of an object
and noticed it wasn’t a rock at all,
but had a large divot taken out of it
where she had struck it with the hand shovel.
Intrigued, she cleared the earth from around it,
and, grabbing hold, wrenched it from the ground.
She brushed the dirt form it, as she turned it
around in her hands to examine it,
but let it drop when she saw what it was.
It was no other than a human skull!
Reeling, she took a quick step back from it,
as it stared back at her with ghastly eyes!
How it had found a home within the soil
of the garden left her at a complete loss,
but her first thoughts were of her beloved husband.
Was he the one who had hidden it there?
And did that mean that he had killed someone?
Her stomach turned in knots at the thought of it.
Then she began to mope, the thought of Phil
keeping such dark secrets, and for so long,
and that he would mislead her, broke her heart.
She knelt there contemplating what to do,
when she considered what it would mean for her
that her husband had this kind of legacy.
She wouldn’t tell a soul unless she had to.
No, she would hide the bones and keep it secret.
fin