[ Brought on the Wind ]
Ah, spring. Fatin's favorite time of the year by far. It was so full of promise and expectation - you could smell it on the air. This had been a light winter, but it still had made a mess of her garden. There was raking, weeding, and planting to be done before summer began in earnest.
Unlike some people who confined their plants to carefully designed plots, Fatin's entire yard was one large garden paradise. Sprawling vegetable plants, tall fruit trees, and a carpet of flowers - both wild and domesticated - covered the space between the tall rock wall around her property and the light blue outside of her house.
The wall, made primarily of a light grey granite, was too tall to see over. The only way a passerby would know about the oasis Fatin had made for herself, was to peek in through the small black wrought iron gate that led into the front yard. It was the only passageway connecting Fatin to the outside world, and if she could have, she probably would have done away with it all together. Beside the gate, set into the rock wall, was a snall bronze plaque bearing the name of the house. - 'Oasis'.
The house, which sat smack in the middle of the small property, was a two floor cottage with a small addition in the back. A red brick chimney and a scattering of generic windows made the house seem innocuous. A sharp contrast to the yard.
In winter, the yard lost a lot of its luster, and Fatin often found herself travelling so as not to have to see it in that state. But now it was spring and there was work to be done to restore her yard to the paradise, the escape, the oasis she needed in her life.
She had decided to start with raking, and attired in a pair of worn jeans, a white t-shirt, and a corduroy button up shirt, she was out in the front yard raking out dead leaves and uncovering the tiny creeping green hidden underneath. It was hard work, but as she paused to wipe a gloved hand over her forhead and push some of her hair out of her eyes, she was happier than she remembered feeling in a long time.
It probably had a lot to do with the fact that she could protect and nurture her plants without interference. No one was going to kill them. No one could hurt them in a way that would leave them empty and broken - to just fade away in front of her eyes. She would work hard and they would blossom and thrive for her. Winter was only a temporary defeat for them.
But her mood also had something to do with the incredibly cheerful child "working" beside her. Tareva, her parents had named her, was a Chine - not something Fatin pretended to understand - who had fallen into Fatin's care. It was a relationship that was both irritating and fulfilling. Taking care of a very young child was not something Fatin had any experience with and her job often took her away to unsavory places for extended periods - but so far it was working. Fatin had no illusions, however, it was working because Tareva was one of the most good-natured people you'd ever meet.
Right now she was filthy, laying on the ground watching bugs scurry away as Fatin's raking exposed their dark little abodes. Earlier, she had been helping to rake with her own plastic trowel Fatin had bought her. Her success at staying on task was minimal, but the infectious laughter she burst out into every five minutes made the whole task take on an air of fun.
Sighing, Fatin smiled at her charge, and then continued her gardening. She laid the rake against the inside of the wall and picked up the pile of stuff she had raked up, carrying it over to add to a pile that was growing in the backyard. All of this stuff would make for great soil later when it finished composting.
When she returned to the front yard, Tareva had moved over to stand just inside the front gate and Fatin panicked. Had they found her? Were they going to hurt her little sunshine? As she ran up to snatch Tareva up off the ground, however, she realized there was no one at the gate. Tareva was merely trying to snatch a bright green leaf that had lodged in the whorls of the gate.
"It must of been blown there by the wind, sweets." She said to Tareva, who she shifted onto her left hip, before reaching out and delicately extracting the leaf from its perch. "Odd that it is so green already."
Tareva Mmmm'd in agreement, nodding her head. Although she did that a lot, so it wasn't clear whether she really understood what Fatin was talking about.
She reached out for the leaf, but Fatin held it carefully out of reach - earning her a grumpy snort from the child. As she twirled it between her fingers, however, she had decided not to let Tareva play with it. It might end up broken or lost - and it presented a puzzle. Did someone else have a garden that was already so in bloom? It seemed impossible in this clime. And why would such a lively green leaf fall off a tree?
Absently, Fatin put away the gardening implements and set Tareva down for a nap. Then she took the leaf to her study and laid it on her mahogany writing desk, right on top of the blotter. It would be safe from little hands there, but not from time. Making a mental note to look up the leaf shape soon, she bustled off to start dinner.
