Life of the Garden

The trees were beautiful. They were big, and strong and gentle. Their long trunks were various shades of brown, ranging from dark oak to cool ash. Their green leaves lit up, creating gorgeous kaleidoscopes, while their shadows provided the ground with cool shade. The trees were lovely, and so was their carer, the beautiful girl. She was small, and delicate and tough. Her skin was honey gold, causing her to glow with sunlight, while her eyes were age old, containing wisdom beyond her years. Like her trees, she also had shadows, long casting ones which emerged when she looked at her world, as if expecting great darkness. The girl cared for the trees, watering and watching over them. She dearly loved them, and they greatly loved her.

Before the current trees, there was another set of beautiful, big, strong and gentle trees. The girl had also cared for these trees, long ago, in her little world of greenery. She loved those trees, and she loved these trees, but her love for each set of trees was not the same.

In the beginning, when the girl cared for the very first set of trees, they were much like the others, young and elegant saplings. The girl looked after her trees, and her trees loved her. As the years went by, the girl's trees grew up into big, strong trees, ones which the girl was proud of. The trees soon started living without the girl, drawing nutrients from their own soil and water from the rain.

As the years went by, the girl's trees only continued to grow. They became greedy, stealing other plants nutrients for their own purposes. The other plants soon died, and the girl's little kingdom became barren, empty except for the strong trees. The trees ruled the sky and ruled the soil, owning everything and everyone. The girl became sad for her trees, and sad for her plants. She had grown her trees to be beautiful and gentle, but they had turned ugly and cruel. Their trunks turned bumpy and rough, and their leaves became so thick no light could filter through. Gone were the girl's trees, menacing towers replacing them.

The girl tried to save her once beautiful trees, calling and crying out to them from down below to turn back, save the garden and save themselves. But the girl was merely an ant, insignificant and easily squashed. Her trees continued to grow, higher and higher while the garden shrank, smaller and smaller, until there was only the dead and the trees. The girl's lush world was consumed by the trees, leaving everything brown and lifeless.

Left with no choice, the beautiful girl was forced to perform a difficult action. Taking her axe, one by one the girl cut down her trees, mournfully crying their names each time her axe struck wood. Slowly, the trees fell, dying as their bodies were broken. As the trees dropped, the girl's garden became greener, restoring it to its former glory. The skies were once again open, the sun able to shine. The half-dead plants grew back stronger, and the animals came out of hiding. Everything was like before, except for the girl. She mourned for her trees, and missed them dearly, wanting them to be with her, happy and healthy. In memory of them, the girl made a small plaque, remembering her little forest. And life continued, both the same as before and very different.

Several years passed, and the girl decided to grow some new trees. These trees were big, and strong and beautiful. Their long trunks were various shades of brown, ranging from dark oak to cool ash. Their green leaves lit up, creating gorgeous kaleidoscopes, while their shadows provided the ground with cool shade. The trees were lovely, and so was their carer, the beautiful girl. She was small, and delicate and tough. Her skin was honey gold, causing her to glow with sunlight, while her eyes were age old, containing wisdom beyond her years. Like her trees, she also had shadows, long casting ones which emerged when she looked at her world, as if expecting great darkness. The girl cared for the trees, watering and watching over them. She dearly loved them, and they greatly loved her. The girl didn't forget her old trees, and didn't neglect her new trees, wanting the best for all of them. But in the end, her trees didn't need her, and would eventually live by themselves, hopefully growing into trees the girl was proud of, strong and beautiful.

Hey guys thank you so much for reading. This is my first story so I'm really sorry if it isn't very good, I'm going to try to improve my writing! Feel free to share constructive criticism.

- Azuria