In The Garden

The Bluebird's Tale





The angel sat watching the bluebird in the corner garden. She was magnificent. Her soft lilting song soothed all in the garden. Her soft delicate colors loaned a subtle beauty and charm to the garden. Had it been so long ago? It seemed both a lifetime ago and yesterday that the small bluebird had come to the garden.

The storm had been the worst the little bluebird had ever seen; it had battered her severely and left her disheartened with a badly broken wing. She had fallen into the garden, heartbroken and in despair, not caring to go on - wanting only to pass in some small measure of peace. In the darkness that enveloped her she managed to find her way towards a small plant that looked equally battered. Small shelter she thought - but it will do. And in the darkness the tattered plant spread a few torn leaves to shelter the tiny bird as she cried herself to sleep.

The sun rose bright the next morning as the angel entered the garden to greet the gardener. As was her custom she went by to check on the small plant always amazed it was still there. Today she hurried off to find the gardener. "Have you seen? Have you checked on the small plant yet?" She asked. There was no real need to say which plant - this little plant had taken a special place in her heart - the gardener knew. "Ah", he said "you mean the small bird?"

The angel looked at the gardener in stunned silence. The small frail bird lay under the plant shivering and the angel feared likely dying. The only shelter and companionship, a few torn leaves on a small tattered plant that itself might not make it. "How can you?” she sobbed. The gardener gently wiped her tears with his hand, and as he did each tear became a small bright star. "You will see", he said softly, "It will work out. Right now they need each other, will help each other heal." The angel could only stare at him in disbelief, in her heart she felt a heaviness - neither would make it. She decided she would make it her task to watch over them.

As the days passed the angel did watch, and though she never saw the gardener near that corner he always knew how the bluebird and the plant were doing, each small bit of progress. The plant put out new growth and new leaves and the bluebird’s wing healed and seemed to regain strength. As the seasons changed the angel watched and the small plant made new foliage, rich and lush, and the bluebird's tattered feathers filled in with the delicate blue of the sky and a soft reddish gold bib. The two seemed to draw strength from each other. The angel worried the small bird would try to leave before she was fully healed ready, but it seemed she knew. And as time passed a friendship between the plant and the bluebird grew rich and blossomed. And the angel noticed too that other small creatures and plants seemed to drift toward the corner of the garden, and that all seemed to arrive in pain and in need. And in this corner of the garden watched by the small bluebird and sheltered by the small plant they healed.

The angel turned to the gardener, "Why do you not help?” she asked. "With your hand they could progress faster, be even more. This has become such a special corner." The gardener smiled, "My hand has been in this all along. But it was necessary for them to lean on each other - learn how to help, or this corner would not have become what it is." He smiled at her and led her into the corner garden and bent to tend a bloom on the plant.

The angel looked at the beautiful blossom being tended by the gardener - it had a rare beauty and a subtle fragrance that was soothing. The small bluebird hovered nearby watching over the corner of the garden. The gardener indicated a plant to the bluebird that the angel had not noticed before that was ladened with nourishing seed. She smiled quietly - yes, the gardener had had his hand in this all along and had, as always, been right



© Candace

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