the garden
revisiting and old garden, now overgrown
The garden had been abandoned for years. That much was clear from both the amount of growth and the decay lying beneath it. Amelia walked through what had been gorgeously cultivated flowerbeds and topiaries, now reduced to piles of weeds.
She ran her hand over what used to be a bench, perhaps for lovers to sit on while enjoying the beauty of the garden. Now though, it was only rubble. Nothing more than a pile of rocks that bore the unusual marks of civilization that had been forced upon it.
Amelia smiled. These gardens had always terrified her as a child. The unnatural shades of green seemed too vibrant to truly exist. The flowers bloomed in too many unnatural colors. Here, where the topiaries grew into whatever shape they needed, where the flowers grew into the colors they saw fit to show, where the mark of civilization was only seen in the carvings on piles of rubble, this is where she felt the most comfortable.
And why shouldn't she? After all, civilization had done little for her. She'd had food, yes. But it was all filled to bursting with sugar and sweetness, to the point of making her sick just thinking about it. There had been soft beds, but she had never gotten to fully enjoy them, being forced to go to bed late each night and then rise with the sun each morning.
There had supposedly all she ever could have wanted, but also a surprising lack of whatever it was she had needed.
And now, it had all come crumbling down. Nature had reclaimed that which her family had chosen to cut and trim and enslave. The boundless orderly walls had finally cracked and crumbled, leaving an overgrown garden in its place.
A garden where life could finally flourish as it was meant to.
Amelia took off her shoes and began to walk in the overgrown grass, feeling the dirt between her toes. She smiled as she passed large flowering vines, growing erratically, as they were meant to.
She walked deeper and deeper into the gardens, walking further and further away from the noises of the outside world and into the peace only unfettered wilderness could provide.
Then, she reached her destination. A fountain that had long since run dry. Curiously though, vines had long since replaced the water, running from where a stone figure poured them out of a jar and running down into the basin below.
Amelia smiled once more, and settled down on the ground, resting her back against the old fountain.
It had been years since she'd left this place. Years since she'd renounced her father's ways. But she'd always thought about it in the back of her mind. Always wondering if nature would reclaim that which belonged to it.
And it had. Oh, thank the heavens it had.
Amelia closed her eyes and rested her head against the lip of the fountain. She'd tried her whole life to reverse the effects of her father's destruction. Battle after battle, trying to reclaim that which had been lost. She had rarely been able to reclaim anything before he'd taken everything he could and moved on.
But here, now, she saw that her efforts had not been for naught. Life had reclaimed itself, even though her efforts had not been enough.
Finally, there was peace.
Finally, she could rest.