A reflection of love – The tale of the twin gardens

A reflection of love – The tale of the twin gardens.

“I will not calm down Miss Anderson!” Wesley hears the indignation in Mr. Conner’s voice. Furthermore, it must be louder out there. Mr. Conner led Miss Anderson outside after things got snippy. Wesley looks down at his cup of tea. The story of the Twin Gardens is very fresh on his mind. Even though he doesn’t know Miss Anderson, he feels a bit perturbed with her timing.

“We’ll just see about that! By what authority do you make these demands Miss Anderson?” Wesley can hear the unexpected visitor responding to Mr. Conner, but they must have moved further from the front door. Now he feels slightly conspicuous sitting here alone at his neighbors kitchen table. Would Mr. Conner expect him to wait? They had only met for the first time today. In fact, the only real information Wesley has is Mr. Conner’s name. He hasn’t even had the chance to ask about the impossible way the garden thrives.

Wesley decides to join his neighbor outside. Besides, what right did the town council have to sanction Mr. Conner’s garden? Much less, demand that he remove it? In fact, it makes less sense with every step Wesley takes to the front door. With the result being a smart sense of resolve by the time he reaches the spot where Mr. Conner stands. Furthermore he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

The Twin Gardens

“Surely you understand Mr. Conner? I’m just the messenger. The town council had the vote and the matter passed by unanimous decision. Anything that can be considered an eye sore must be removed by order of the town council.” She looks at Mr. Conner with a mock sincerity that rankles Wesley. The excuse, and the reasoning, are flimsy at best. However, it’s what she says next that stops Wesley, and Mr. Conner, cold.

“If it’s any consolation Mr. Conner you are not the only one with an unregulated garden anomaly growing on your property.” She gives a wry grin and turns and looks toward the distant ridge. Mr. Conner and Wesley follow her gaze but neither sees her point. Then she points. In fact, she points at the hillside a few miles away. “I’m surprised you haven’t seen it, although it probably needs a pair of binoculars, or a small telescope, to see it clearly.” She grins a bit sheepishly, which makes her expression seem a bit more open. “It’s a garden. Almost as large as yours Mr. Conner. But they have to remove it. Same as you. The town council decided.”

Then, as if the matter itself were decided, Miss Anderson turns and leaves. Mr. Conner watches her go. Then turns and looks at Wesley. “I’m very sorry you had to witness that my friend.” Absently, he gazes in the direction of the hillside. Wesley follows his gaze, and most likely his train of thought. A second garden? Identical to Mr. Conner’s garden? Wesley tries to think back through all the days over the past year. All of them during the drought. It seems like he would have noticed another garden like Mr. Conner’s garden.

A Reflection of Love

“It seems obvious what I must do.” Mr. Conner takes the tea cup from Wesley and places it in the dishwasher. They came back in to continue their visit, but the late afternoon had given way to early evening by then. Furthermore, Wesley was beginning to feel bad for Mr. Conner. It was obvious the visit from the town council’s representative unsettled him. However, it could also be the idea of the reflection. In fact, Wesley would be untruthful if he said he hadn’t already thought about it. His mind immediately goes to the location of his binoculars at home.

With this in mind, Wesley helps clean up their afternoon tea, and they make plans for the next day. “You need to hear the rest of the tale my friend. We were getting close before the unexpected interruption.” Mr. Conner pauses and his eyes go far away. And once again Wesley gets the feeling the older gentleman is remembering rather than brooding. Therefore, he decides to ask what feels like the obvious question.

“Did you know about the other garden? The one on the hillside?” Then another idea finds its way into Wesley’s thoughts. “Is it a reflection of your garden? Is that what the story is about?” And it seems that asking the obvious question, leads to more questions, and Wesley finds himself very nearly obsessed with the garden on the hillside. “But how can that be? I’m certain that I never once saw any garden other than yours. Especially during the drought.” And the winter. He thinks the last part to himself. In fact, the more he thinks about it, the less sense it seems to make. He feels positive Mr. Conner had no idea about the other garden.

A reflection of love – The tale of the twin gardens

“I assure you that the Tale of the Twin Gardens is older than the very hills surrounding us.” Mr. Conner smiles absently to himself. “And in answer to your other question, yes, I am more curious than I can say about the second garden. Furthermore, I would very much like to know if they plan to follow the town council’s unreasonable demands.” Wesley felt certain they would find a willing partner in their fight against the town council. If they could find the other garden.

All of this had taken place over an hour ago. Wesley returned home, which was quick, because he lives next door. One thing that will help is that his front porch faces in the same direction as Mr. Conner’s. However, it took almost forty five minutes to find the binoculars. Now, as he stands here in the cool night air, he almost can’t believe what he’s seeing. He looks into the binoculars again and tries to process the image. There was indeed a second garden. And by the looks of things, it is identical to Mr. Conner’s garden, in every single way.

The following links are the previous chapters in this story.

• First Chapter – A Little Drought and a New Garden
• Second Chapter – Love Divided By Time
• Third Chapter – Once In a Blue Moon Love

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Reflection

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