The Serial Garden Continued
By: 1000th Ghost
Every week in The Times newspaper you will see this advertisement:
Brekkfast Brikks Packets. £100
Offered for any in good condition,
whether empty or full.
So, if you have any, you know where to send them.
But Mark is growing anxious; none have come in yet, and every day Mr. Johansen seems a little thinner and more elderly. Besides, what will the Princess be thinking?….
Mark woke up. It was another ordinary day. He got up and got dressed. As he dressed, he sang a little tune. It was a happy tune, but it made him feel sad. It reminded him of the garden he had made from some old Brekkfast Brikks packets, the beautiful princess who had lived there, and how it had all been destroyed in the furnace. If you sang the certain tune, the garden would grow tall and come to life. Princess Sophia Maria had been waiting all those long years for "Rudi", who was Mark's music teacher. He was supposed to come to the garden almost fifty years ago, but he never got the book with the picture of the garden, so he could never go to his fiancée, Princess Sophia Maria.
Oh! Why did all this have to happen? If only the garden…oh, well. Nothing to do about it now. Except wait for someone to call with Brekkfast Brikks. Which was not very likely.
"Where are they?" Princess Sophia Maria cried in despair. It had been weeks since Mark had gone to get Mr. Johansen. "Oh Rudi, where are you?" she sobbed. "That's it. I'm tired of being stuck in this garden all alone! If Rudi won't come to me, then I must go to him." With that, she sang the magic tune, and disappeared from the garden.
"Where am I?" she coughed. She was in a hot, dark room filled with ashes and smoke. "Oh, it's simply filthy in here!" she exclaimed. Suddenly, she saw a small door. She slowly opened it, and she was looking at an old, dirty basement. "Oh, it's still dirty!" she cried in despair. "My gown is ruined!"
She quickly ran up the stairs, out of the basement and into Mark's house, though she did not know where she was. Mark's mother was too busy cleaning to notice the princess as she slipped quietly out the door.
"Well that's more like it", she said, as she stepped into the well-kept garden. She walked down random streets and eventually made it into the town. She received many odd glances along the way. After all, how often do you see a beautiful princess in a long, dirty, tattered gown, walking down main street? Suddenly, she saw Mark and Mr. Johansen sitting at a little outdoor table having tea and crumpets.
"Oh Mark!" she cried, running toward him. "Where on earth have you been?"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" rushed Mark. "You see, my mother threw away the garden, and it burned in the furnace, so we couldn't come back…"
All this time, Mr. Johansen had been staring at the princess. Suddenly, he stood up and kissed her.
"Oh, you horrid old man!" she shrieked, pushing him away. Mr. Johansen stumbled back, astonished.
"No, no, no!" exclaimed Mark. "This is Mr. Johansen…um…Rudi!"
"Rudi…" she softly mumbled, as she fainted.
"I think she's coming around", Mr. Johansen said.
"What happened?" exclaimed Princess Sophia Maria.
"You fainted", Mark said simply.
"Fainted!" shrieked the princess. "Out in public? Princesses are never supposed to do that!"
"Oh well", said Mark. "Now tell us, what are you doing here? I thought you said that it would not be dignified."
"Well it's not…but I just had to see Rudi! Why didn't you come back?"
"I told you. My mother was cleaning, and she threw the garden into the furnace, and it burned!"
"It couldn't have burned completely…or I would have burned with it. There must be a piece of the garden still in the furnace!" the Princess joyfully exclaimed.
"Well, what are we waiting for!" cried Mr. Johansen suddenly. "Let's go look!"
They hopped onto the nearest trolley and sped to Mark's house.
"Oh, you mean we have to go back in there?" moaned the Princess.
"Well if you want to marry Rudi, then I guess you'll have to", said Mark.
"Oh, very well", sighed the Princess. They all climbed into the cellar and then into the tiny furnace. Mark's mother was going to the market, so there was no worry of getting burned. They all searched through the ashes for hours.
Just when everyone was about to give up, Mr. Johansen exclaimed, "I've found it!" It was just one apple tree, but it was there. They all quickly sang the tune right then and there and were instantly in the arms of an apple tree. That was all that was left of the garden. Vast, gray emptiness stretched as far as the eye could see.
"Oh, my beautiful garden!" sobbed the Princess.
"Cheer up", said Mark. "At least there's fruit. Now Mr. Johansen can eat the fruit and be young again."
He looked where Mr. Johansen had been. In his place, he saw a tall, handsome, young man!
"Oh, my Rudi!" Princess Sophia Maria cried when she saw him. "Oh, Rudi!"
"Yes, but what about the garden?" asked Mark. "You two can't spend the rest of your lives in an apple tree."
"That's right", said Mr. Johansen. They all sang the song and were instantly back in the furnace.
"Mark", Mark's mother called. "There's a letter for you, dear."
"Coming mother", he called. They all went upstairs, and Mark got the letter while Mr. Johansen and the Princess hid from Mark's mother in the hall.
"Oh my…oh my…", Mark stuttered when he opened the letter with the princess and Mr. Johansen, "This guy's got Brekkfast Brikks!"
"Well, we'll send for them immediately!" cried Mr. Johansen.
"His name is Mr. Pinelead, and he doesn't live that far away from here," said Mark.
Two long weeks dragged by. Finally, one afternoon, Mark's mother called, "Mark, there's a package for you!" Mark grabbed it and ran straight to Mr. Johansen's house without even saying thank you to his mother. Mr. Johansen, Mark and the Princess spent the afternoon assembling the miniature garden.
"There", said Mr. Johansen when they had finished.
"Oh, it's perfect!" the Princess cried.
They all sang the song and stepped into the garden. Suddenly, Princess Sophia Maria grabbed a handful of flowers and exclaimed, "Let's get married!"
"What, now?" asked Mark.
"Sure, why not?" exclaimed Mr. Johansen.
"Um, okay, I guess I'll be the minister", said Mark. "Do you, Princess Sophia Maria Louisa of Saxe-Hoffenpoffen-und-Hamster, take Rudi Johansen to be your lawfully wedded husband? For better and sickness, and…um…all that stuff?"
"I do", whispered Princess Sophia Maria.
"And do you, Rudi Johansen, take Princess Sophia Maria etcetera, etcetera, etcetera to be your lawfully wedded wife? For…what was it for again?"
"Who cares?" exclaimed Mr. Johansen. "I do!"
"Well…okay!" said Mark. Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride…"
The End