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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
The Music ~*~ ONCE UPON A DECEMBER ~*~
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