"Is that you grandma?"
The little five year old girl asks while pointing at an old photograph that has yellowed with age.
"Yes, that's me, and that's your cousin Collin & your grandfather. I was about ten years old in that photo."
Mary Lennox muses as she regales her little granddaughter with stories of her youth. Her once- thick brown hair has become silver and thinned with age, her old bones creak and her back aches, but she still has that youthful spark in her eye as she reminisces about a simpler time.
"Is this in the secret garden?"
Mary smiles at the child's curiosity and nods in affirmation.
"Yes, although once my uncle found us hiding out there it wasn't much of a secret anymore."
She chuckles as her granddaughter gently touches the old photograph, as if she could reach through the photo & absorb the magic within.
"What happened to the garden grandma?"
"Oh, it's still there dear, maybe next time you go visit your cousins at Misselthwaite Manor, you can go inside."
The child's eyes sparkle at the idea of seeing the secret garden for herself and Mary gently sets her on the floor before standing up - with some difficulty on her part - and walking over to an old dresser, she rifles through it for a moment before pulling something out & turning to her ever-curious granddaughter.
"Here."
The child stares in wonderment as a slightly-rusted key on a silver chain is placed around her neck.
"I'd like this to belong to you now, I think you know what it unlocks."
She gives a conspiratorial wink and smiles as the girls eyes light up and she clutches the key to her chest as if it were a sacred artifact.
Which to a five year old girl with a big imagination, it probably was.
"Take good care of it for me, and don't ever lose it, alright?"
The child nods and turns when someone knocks on the door. A young man - whom Mary notices is the spitting image of his late grandfather - peeks his head around the door & smiles.
"C'mon Lily, it's time to go home."
"Awww!"
Mary chuckles at the petulant child & walks over to grab a small box on the kitchen table.
"I made this batch of cookies for everyone, say hello to your father for me will you Ben?"
The boy nods & gives his grandmother a hug before taking the offered box, she turns to her granddaughter before giving her a hug as well.
"Remember what I told you, alright?"
Lily nods before walking out the door with her older brother, Mary follows behind them & watches with a smile as Ben helps his baby sister onto his horse before handing her the box of sweets & climbing on behind her.
"Bye grandma!"
The children wave to her before riding off, Mary waves after them before sighing softly.
Dickon would be proud of his grandson, the boy really was just like him in every way.
She turns to walk into the house as old memories begin to resurface in her mind.
Collin had been the first to go, he had enlisted during WWI and walked with a limp after being hit by shrapnel from a land mine, he married his fiancé - a nice woman named Isabella - after returning home.
His son - Archibald Craven II - was now the owner of Misselthwaite Manor and lived there happily with his wife & two children, who loved the secret garden almost as much as their grandfather had.
Dickon had passed on about a year ago, he'd fought bravely alongside Collin during the war and Mary had been overjoyed when they had both came back to her alive, they were married not long afterward. He'd been a great father to their three children & an even greater grandfather to their grandchildren.
Mary groans as her back begins to ache again and she slowly makes her way to her bedroom, she's been feeling weak these past few days & knows instinctively that she isn't long for this world, hence why she passed the key on to her granddaughter. She notices that it's a little past sunset now & changes into her nightgown before untying her hair and carefully laying down on the bed, her old bones pop & crack as she gets comfortable and settles down to sleep.
"Mary!"
She opened her eyes & blinked in the sunlight.
"Mary!"
She looked down at herself & noticed that she was young again, she looked around and realized that she knew this place.
She was in the maze.
"Mary!"
She followed the voice through the winding pathways, she'd walked this maze so many times in her youth that she could walk it blindfolded.
"Mary!"
She finally came to the door covered in ivy and found it already unlocked as she turned the handle.
It had been waiting for her.
She opened the door and slowly walked through it, the garden was just as she remembered it; bright & beautiful & sparkling with magic in the summer sun.
"Mary!"
She slowly walked down the stone steps & vaguely heard the door close behind her as she reached the bottom, but gave it no thought as she followed the voice deeper into the garden.
"Mary!"
She finally found the source of the voice and felt tears gather in her eyes as she saw the smiling faces of Collin & Dickon standing there waiting for her.
She sobbed happily as she ran to them and collapsed into their embrace.
"Welcome home Miss Mary."