Told in a Garden
Disclaimer: I own neither the CSI: Miami characters, nor the 'Wheel of Time' book concept. I own the books, but only because I went and bought them at the bookstore! I am making no money from any of these stories or the use of the characters or ideas. I also don't own the title "Told in a Garden," and am making no profit off of its use.
Author's Note: This is a nasty one, but this is what came out of my mind as a sequel for "Out of Death, Life." I guess the vicious side of my personality has come out from the shadows now. One piece of fiction I've read suggests that there is an endless number of "other worlds," or parallel worlds, and that these parallel worlds spring to life with each decision that is made. We decide to turn right instead of left at the next corner, and in this world, we do turn right. But in the New World, which has now come into being because of that decision, we turn left. What happens then, in that world? These pieces are interwoven to show those "worlds of 'if'".
"Mom? Can we go to the garden this afternoon?" Her daughter's voice floated down the stairs and recalled Calleigh from her reverie. She stared out the window as she thought, vaguely wondering why this should be such a hard question to answer. "Mom?"
"You know, I think that would be a very good idea. Can you call the florist about the roses?"
"Sure. Same color as usual?" Calleigh heard her daughter dialing the cordless telephone to order their usual "bucket" of flowers. She smiled at her daughter's take-charge nature. From being born two weeks before her expected due date, to listening to advice from others but then doing what she wanted on most matters, Lisabella had never been one to sit quietly in the background and let others dictate how things would go. Footsteps overhead told her that Lisabella had finished the telephone call and gone back to packing, and Calleigh turned back to the map of the eastern states that she had been studying.
Later that afternoon, Calleigh let her daughter drive them to the florist and then to the garden. The late-summer sun filtered through mature oak trees shading the long drive from the granite sign by the main highway back to the parking lot. It almost seemed that they were driving through a tunnel of green and yellow-gold. They walked side-by-side up the path to the small office and went in, Calleigh relishing the air conditioning against the Miami humidity.
"Calleigh, it's so good to see you. How are you, Lisabella? You must be getting ready to leave for school soon, right?" The woman who had come out from the back office hugged first Calleigh and then Lisabella as Calleigh stepped back to let her daughter answer.
"Hey, Susan, I'm fine. Physically, yeah, I'm ready, I'm all packed and so on, and we leave tomorrow to drive up to Pennsylvania, but mentally I just don't know. I hadn't realized it was such a big step until I got right up to it."
"I can understand that! It was hard for me, too, and I think every kid goes through the same fears. Don't worry, you'll do fine. Are you ready for it, Calleigh?"
"Oh, Susan, I don't know. You know what it's like to send your kid off, you're ready for them to be out of the house, but at the same time, you don't want to let go of them. How are you doing lately? And how's Carolyn?" Calleigh and Carolyn had become good friends over the years as Calleigh visited the garden, and she had felt for Carolyn's daughter Susan as they both watched Carolyn slide into the darkness of Alzheimer's disease.
"Well, she has her good days and her bad days, but I'm afraid it's been a bad week so far. Every now and then she'll seem to be 'all there,' and then it'll disappear so fast. Silver can usually at least get her to respond, but he's getting old too."
"He's a great bird, though. Listen, why don't we do lunch when I get back next week? You can fill me in on how to cope with an empty nest, and we'll have a good time out."
The three women chatted for a few more minutes, then finished their conversation. Calleigh and Lisabella began wandering through the garden pruning, pulling weeds, watering, and then leaving a single dark crimson rose at the base of each plant they had tended. Lisabella paid special attention, Calleigh noted, to the copper-blossomed rose dedicated to Lisa Simmons and the white one for Belle King. They passed slowly through the roses and the other perennials, and wound up in the section reserved for trees and large plantings.
Disclaimer: I own neither the CSI: Miami characters, nor the 'Wheel of Time' book concept. I own the books, but only because I went and bought them at the bookstore! I am making no money from any of these stories or the use of the characters or ideas. I also don't own the title "Told in a Garden," and am making no profit off of its use.
Author's Note: This is a nasty one, but this is what came out of my mind as a sequel for "Out of Death, Life." I guess the vicious side of my personality has come out from the shadows now. One piece of fiction I've read suggests that there is an endless number of "other worlds," or parallel worlds, and that these parallel worlds spring to life with each decision that is made. We decide to turn right instead of left at the next corner, and in this world, we do turn right. But in the New World, which has now come into being because of that decision, we turn left. What happens then, in that world? These pieces are interwoven to show those "worlds of 'if'".
"Mom? Can we go to the garden this afternoon?" Her daughter's voice floated down the stairs and recalled Calleigh from her reverie. She stared out the window as she thought, vaguely wondering why this should be such a hard question to answer. "Mom?"
"You know, I think that would be a very good idea. Can you call the florist about the roses?"
"Sure. Same color as usual?" Calleigh heard her daughter dialing the cordless telephone to order their usual "bucket" of flowers. She smiled at her daughter's take-charge nature. From being born two weeks before her expected due date, to listening to advice from others but then doing what she wanted on most matters, Lisabella had never been one to sit quietly in the background and let others dictate how things would go. Footsteps overhead told her that Lisabella had finished the telephone call and gone back to packing, and Calleigh turned back to the map of the eastern states that she had been studying.
Later that afternoon, Calleigh let her daughter drive them to the florist and then to the garden. The late-summer sun filtered through mature oak trees shading the long drive from the granite sign by the main highway back to the parking lot. It almost seemed that they were driving through a tunnel of green and yellow-gold. They walked side-by-side up the path to the small office and went in, Calleigh relishing the air conditioning against the Miami humidity.
"Calleigh, it's so good to see you. How are you, Lisabella? You must be getting ready to leave for school soon, right?" The woman who had come out from the back office hugged first Calleigh and then Lisabella as Calleigh stepped back to let her daughter answer.
"Hey, Susan, I'm fine. Physically, yeah, I'm ready, I'm all packed and so on, and we leave tomorrow to drive up to Pennsylvania, but mentally I just don't know. I hadn't realized it was such a big step until I got right up to it."
"I can understand that! It was hard for me, too, and I think every kid goes through the same fears. Don't worry, you'll do fine. Are you ready for it, Calleigh?"
"Oh, Susan, I don't know. You know what it's like to send your kid off, you're ready for them to be out of the house, but at the same time, you don't want to let go of them. How are you doing lately? And how's Carolyn?" Calleigh and Carolyn had become good friends over the years as Calleigh visited the garden, and she had felt for Carolyn's daughter Susan as they both watched Carolyn slide into the darkness of Alzheimer's disease.
"Well, she has her good days and her bad days, but I'm afraid it's been a bad week so far. Every now and then she'll seem to be 'all there,' and then it'll disappear so fast. Silver can usually at least get her to respond, but he's getting old too."
"He's a great bird, though. Listen, why don't we do lunch when I get back next week? You can fill me in on how to cope with an empty nest, and we'll have a good time out."
The three women chatted for a few more minutes, then finished their conversation. Calleigh and Lisabella began wandering through the garden pruning, pulling weeds, watering, and then leaving a single dark crimson rose at the base of each plant they had tended. Lisabella paid special attention, Calleigh noted, to the copper-blossomed rose dedicated to Lisa Simmons and the white one for Belle King. They passed slowly through the roses and the other perennials, and wound up in the section reserved for trees and large plantings.