The Garden Party

Reggie clutched desperately to her expression of fascination. Her facial muscles had begun to twitch with the effort, but her family doctor hadn’t seemed to notice. He droned on.

“And really I spent the whole year, maybe even my whole time at University studying…”

Reggie would rather listen to screeching chimps than hear another word.

 “Just book after book…”
She assumed that his wife and children had stopped listening to him years ago. And when he had seen Reggie’s constructed look of interest, it had caused a landslide of words.

 “After book after book. I really was dedicated all the way through…”

Reggie cursed her parents for forcing her to attend this party in their place and for instilling in her, such great manners. She draped her arm over her midsection and turned the cocktail glass in a clockwise direction. Her silky, patterned dress clung to her and left her arms bare and goose bumped.
 
“I wrote notes in a notepad.” He snorted a laugh “that must sound ancient to you!”

She shifted her weight to her toes, unearthing her heels from the dirt. Reggie couldn’t take it any longer; she drained her glass and raised an eyebrow at the doctor. “I’m dry.” She said.

 
The doctor, red faced from alcohol, gave her a gallant bow and departed to bring her another drink. She watched his quick strides toward the bar and for the hundredth time that night, wondered why she was here.

 
With a sigh, she did a desperate 360 scan of her surroundings. The glow of the full moon over the property was punctuated by fierce bursts of garden lights, which were spread systematically throughout the property, illuminating random trees, flowerbeds and the many scenic walks. Some of the guests had embarked upon them, drinks in hand. But the majority of the party lingered near her, around the outside buffet and bar.

 
Reggie smiled; everyone seemed to be occupied. She delicately placed her glass upon the ground and walked away.

 
She picked a path at random and rounded a corner, slipping out of site. Reggie enjoyed the almost too cold air, the clear sky, and the crunch of her heels on the gravel. The blaring garden lamps illuminated plump plants and closed up buds, rough bark and bright, green leaves.

 
To her right, across a patch of flowers, Reggie spotted the entrance to a maze. She removed her shoes, leaving them on the path and waded toward it, between the flowers. Her skin bristled as she approached, she felt a sparking of excitement.

 
Reggie strode into the maze and shivered in the cool shadow of the hedges. Two paths stretched out to her right and left, barely lit at all. The night seemed intent on taking all it could, Reggie felt a small tremor of fear but could not bear another moment at the garden party.

 
Reggie felt as though she were within a current and took the path to her right. She considered whether it was wise to get lost at this time of night, especially when no one knew where she was. But the thought felt distant and unimportant and so she dismissed it. She turned left at another fork and trailed her hand along the smooth leaves of the hedge.

 
Reggie felt the grass, soft and silky beneath her feet and turned based upon pure impulse. When she reached a dead end, she simply retraced her steps and picked another direction. Filling her imagination with all that could lie within the middle of the maze, she quickened her pace.
Another dead end loomed over her, Reggie was about to retrace her steps when she noticed a flaw in the base of the hedge. She heard a twig break somewhere begin her and gulped. The large hole in the plant, was about her size if she were to crawl. Reggie squatted down, she could see right through to the other side and wondered whether it was the middle of the maze. Reggie got into the crawling position and half rolled her eyes at her own childishness. But she also felt an almost forgotten stirring, that of a mystery yet to be uncovered.