'The Beautiful Garden'

Under Island Jail

'NO....no...no...please don't put me in here..!!!!!!I will not be able to face the world anymore....I am not guilty!! NOooooo.....' bang!!! the guard locked the prisoner who was pleading for mercy. Helplessly the prisoner crouch in a corner of the small cell that had a bunk, a toilet, a washbasin, a blanket, maybe to use when it would be winter. 'Oh God why have you brought me here.....I cannot face the world anymore....life is not worth living anymore...what is my purpose? I am a christian but why am I in such a deep bottomless pit...?? I am so pathetic..where can I put this face, where can I hide? What would I do when I get out of this place??? Oh Lord, where are you when I needed you...you are not even here? Are you real at all...? Lord my God....why have you totally forsaken me?' The prisoner cried himself to sleep, if there was sleep for him....even his days were nightmares and his night tormented him. Almost every night he questioned his life, asking God all the why questions. Fortunately he still believes God existed.

'C79068210, wake up!!! it's time for you to do some work!!!' the officer in charge commanded him to come out of the lingering pain of being in the cell. They took him to a big ugly mud patch within the compound of the huge prison....

prisoner C79068210 was puzzled why they brought him to the patch. He said, 'why are you taking me here?' he asked. 'Your job is to plant anything that you want and this is your job everyday 9:00-5:00!! no explanation from us!!' they replied him. A big bag of different types of seeds was shoved towards him. He saw that all the tools that he needed to take care of the soil was also given him.....the convict took a deep breath...... 

5 years later..................

'Wow....look at that beautiful flower, lovely isn't it darling?' Yes, sweetheart it is really lovely.......oooh....let's take some pictures ...over here..ok ...' hello excuse me... can you take a  picture of my husband and me?' Thank you!!

'Darling this prison grounds are so lovely....there look as if it is fit for the queen.....who is this talented man that did all this?' Such beautifully created masterpieces done just by cutting the different types of bushes....to a specific design..wow!!' God is so real in this place..what an art...some sort of a way to worship God isn't it sweetheart?' 

The couple had heard of this beautiful garden exhibition through the media, where an exhibition of the different types of species of flowers and plants would be on display and would be open to the public to see. Never in history before has it been done where a prisoner was allowed to show his incredible abilities in the art of gardening. People from everywhere came....to see the beautifully designed masterpieces in the garden.  Prisoner C79068210 was world famous!!

They made the garden that he had landscaped.....into the 8th wonders of the world. 

10000 miles away..........

sniff...sniff.....'our condolences to you Mr Pierre on the demise of your lovely wife. She was a very wonderful and kind woman.' We are truly sorry. Accept our deepest heartfelt and sincere apologies' Mr Pierre's relative conveyed their condolences and then they left.

'what would I do without you, honey...now that you are gone. I have made this home as comfortable as I can for you and our garden is the best in the whole world...' he cried his eyes out...he was left alone with his lovely world famous garden next to the 8th wonder of the world!! how cruel can the world be?? 'My wife is gone, I am a lonely man....he lost his strength as the days go by..he became weaker and weaker, he couldn't even dress himself......the garden started to fade away in its beauty.......only the best gardener can make it beautiful again....it was a garden beyond your wildest dreams....u can almost feel God was walking with you in the garden ..there was no pain, sorrow and hurt when you entered the garden......the lovely creatures that made their home in the beautiful garden ....increased your desire to worship God.....it was a beautiful garden to behold, magnificient, glorious....created so perfectly, breathtakingly an amazing vision....it was made for the Gods...some of the comments that people used when they were asked to describe the beautiful garden that belonged to Mr Pierre....

'Eleanor', Mr Pierre called out loud in his croaky voice (he had been very sickly this few weeks) she had been his housekeeper for 20 over years.....'is it possible if you could come here and enlightened me on a few things? I need to get this house in order before I die'. 'No Mr Pierre, don't say that', 'No I must, Eleanor.' ' I need to talk to you about the garden.' 'Who is going to take care of it?' It is not for sale this house nor can it be just anyone that can take care of this garden. We need someone who knows....who really knows how to take care of a garden to continue this legacy for my lovely wife...Eleanor help me to find a suitable person.'

 Under Island Jail......

'C79068210!!! you have made this jail famous!!!!  not by being a convicted felon but by making yourself a great name!! You have done the impossible by making a life out of  'this life' you are a successful person!!!!' I have received a letter from a dying Baron Pierre LordsWorth who needs a special skilled individual to care and protect and cherish his garden and even to die for it. Isn't this too much to asked..... It is not just a garden, it is heaven on earth.....I too have heard wonders about that beautiful garden of the Baron...er ....his name is Baron LordsWorth.' 'He is dying......he needs someone with skill like yours to owned, to love, to die for  the garden SO that you can guard the garden with all that you have. Are you willing to go and see this garden and make it happen?'

at Baron LordsWorth.......

'Mr Pierre, our guest has arrived He is waiting for you in the drawing room' the butler was so excited, he accidently knocked a basket of potpourri from it's place...and it all fell strewn all over the floor... the maids ran to clean it up....

The weak and feeble Baron was wheeled into the room by his butler. 'Mr ....oh ..ah ah ...I am not sure if I know your name' the Baron said slowly...'Mr Francois De Lima is the name sir' pardon me for my slowness of speech....I just got out of jail two days ago.

'Mr De Lima......I am giving you this beautiful garden, look out there, you could see two beautiful swans in the lake facing each other; glowing white in the splendor of the morning sun  those two belonged to my wife.....will you take care of this garden for me? I give it to you to care for, cherished and to die for. No one can take care of it better than you can. Here is the key to the Garden.' It was a key in the shape of a heart. 'Use this to open the gate to the garden. Feel it, touch it, smell it, hear it, wonder at its beauty through your eyes. It is now yours to owned, to cherish, and to die for'. 

'Do you want it, Mr De Lima?'

'Oh God, now I know why you put me in that rotten, horrible, dead, dungeon of a place.....when I cried myself to sleep...sensing no ones care, love and devotion to me so betrayed so sad...you know, you were preparing me for something better. O my God and my King how could I ever doubt You?? You were preparing me for............................. Something better......something better......something better.....something better....  

  I am honoured to be given this responsibility to owned, to love and to die for this garden....if not for my GOD, I would not have live and made it out at all...........I want it with all my heart and soul. I make a decision to want it and care, cherish and die for this garden. My passion, the strength, the wisdom, the knowledge, all that I am would be for this garden......it truly needs me it is dying.............

Baron LordsWorth died peacefully and went to paradise, peacefully because the new baron, Baron De Lima....was given the estate and all that was owned by Baron Lordsworth so that he can care for, cherished and die for the beautiful dying garden.

End............................................................................................less

by Sylvia de Villiers