AllFreeNovel
Share Us
23
Beth
Garden Of Dreams
When I was little, I was convinced my birthday was bad luck. Even before I could fathom the traps and pitfalls I’ve discovered as an adult, I knew for sure I was cursed.
Being born on that day, even with a clover on my face, sure felt like bad luck. And of course my sister took her last breath on our birthday.
I walk out to the back porch.
I gaze out at the gigantic garden maze we called The Labyrinth when we were kids. It’s modeled after Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. I spent hours getting lost in the hedgerows. There is a spot inside which gets really good light in the afternoon. It’s been our happy place. I haven’t been there in so long.
Somehow, it looks bigger than I remember. But as the setting sun gives way to the bruised purple velvet sky of the approaching twilight, I’m drawn to the dark escape of it.
I want to find the place inside the labyrinth where I was happy. Today, when I am so alone and my loss feels like a bottomless lagoon, I need to find it.
I slip my shoes off and step onto the grass and relish the way it pricks the soles of my feet as I make my way into the labyrinth. I run my hands along the ivy-covered walls until I find the light switch.
The dark green bushes which line the entrance of the path are wrapped in strings of flickering fairy lights that make them look like miniature constellations. I pass through enclosed archways lit with chandeliers and find myself awash in twinkling lights that dance on my skin.
I reach an opening that’s cut into a wall of hedges that form a ten feet tall ringed enclosure right at the center of the gardens, and my heart starts to beat a little fast.
This is it.
I step inside and gasp at the sight greeting me.
We only came here during the day when we were kids. I can see I missed the real magic of this place.
The dark reveals what seems like thousands of tiny blue and white lights embedded in the leafy walls of the enclosure. They blaze against the dark-green backdrop and give the feeling of being entirely surrounded by a starry night sky. I look down at my arms and gasp at the patterns the light casts on me. My clothes, a pink and white striped blouse and white skirt, sparkle like a disco ball.
In the middle of the enclosure is a tiny, raised platform surrounded by in-ground lights which are all turned to illuminate the bubbling fountain that sits at its center. The water is also lit and glows an iridescent blue. It’s wondrous, and I wish I had my sketch pad.
In the safety of my solitude, I cover my face and sob into my hands.
The unmistakable sound of grass being crushed by feet stops my tears as quickly as a light being switched on would have. I turn just in time to see the shadowed figure of a man duck through the opening of the enclosure.
Alarm sends a shot of adrenaline through me and breaks my emotional trance. I scream and run to put the fountain between us. I’m aware that where I’m standing, in the circle of light around the fountain, makes me very visible. But he’s cast almost entirely in a shadow.
“Carter? Is that you?” I step around from my hiding place.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He walks in and the lights from the platform illuminate him from head to toe. He’s dressed as always in his signature dark jeans, dark T-shirt, and pristine sneakers. He’s a sight for sore eyes. I want to throw my arms around him. But I don’t.
I haven’t missed how hard he tries not to touch me. I wish he would but, I understand why he won’t.
““Do you want to dance?” I ask abruptly
. There’s a beat of silence before he laughs.
“There’s no music.”
“There’s always music.”
He laughs at the memory of the night we met and the words he said to me. A mischievous smile tugs up the corners and his eyes narrow in delight.
“May I?” He holds out his hand to me and waits for me to take it.
I take a step toward him. Five minutes ago, dancing was the last thing on my mind. Now, it feels like I was born to have this dance, on this night, with this man.
