The Story of Fred

The Story of Fred (con.)

Fred was asleep when Pete entered, and Pete didn't wake him. He didn't need to, because Pete could see into Fred's soul, could see into his dreams, could see into his fears. What he found was a man who truly loved and appreciated beautiful things, gardens in particular. A man who would appreciate Pete's work and the beautiful garden that would result. Pete was convinced, and at that moment he dedicated himself to Fred's garden for all time.

The next morning when Fred woke and went out into his garden, he noticed the change immediately. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he saw some small wild flowers beginning to grow, and the smell of the air was rich in the smell of oxygen and the power of growing things. From that day on whatever he planted took root immediately, and grew with a beauty and ease beyond what Fred had believed possible. At the fair every year he always won one or two gold ribbons, sometimes for his flowers, often for his fruit and vegetables. The years passed and the garden became known throughout the area as a place of beauty, harmony and fertility.

Pete was true to his pledge for all of these many years, and never once thought of moving on. He could have you know, garden elves often went from garden to garden. But Pete was one of the elves that committed to a garden, and he liked the thought of staying with just one garden for all of his life.

But, he had one "weakness," some would say a flaw in his character. It was the thing that had drawn him to Fred's garden in the first place. He needed a garden that needed him, and as the years went on, while he still loved Fred's garden deeply, he began to forget how much it needed him. It seemed so healthy, so capable of handling anything the weather, or fates could throw at it.

One day Pete noticed a garden down the lane. This garden was in such ill repair. It looked like it had been pretty at one time, but now it was defeated, abandoned, alone with it's weeds and barren ground. He was drawn to it, and without thinking he left Fred's garden and entered the one down the lane.

Fred noticed the difference almost immediately; the air didn't smell as good, and when he planted new plants, they had trouble taking hold, and often died. He didn't know what to do, no matter how hard he worked, it just wasn't the same. For the first year, since Pete had come to his garden, he won no prizes at the fair.

Things went from bad to worse, until one day, without any warning the blight came. When Fred got up that morning all of the leaves in his garden were curled and dying, and a gray fungus had spread throughout. The air smelled of decay and death. Fred had to set a torch to all of the plants in his garden--it was the only way that the blight could be stopped. He fired them all, as tears ran down his face and soiled his cheeks.

Pete noticed the smoke and wondered what was burning. And then he saw it was Fred's garden, and he knew immediately what had happened. "What have I done?" he thought, "Here I am struggling in a new garden, one that I haven't even committed to, while the garden that I swore to remain with has been decimated." Guilt and sorrow spread through him like the fire, that he was forced to watch from afar, spread through his garden.