One day the little girl's mother told her that her Dad was going away and wouldn't be coming back, but she said "don't be sad" we are going on a trip to visit lots and lots of other little girls. The little girl was very upset about her Dad but didn't really believe that he was never coming back, surely he would have told her? At the same time she was quite excited about the trip.
Early the next morning they set out on their journey, with some padkos to eat along the way. The journey seemed to take forever but they finally arrived at their destination, a huge place with these very, very high red brick walls and these huge, dark wooden gates that creaked ominously as they swung open. It seemed strangely quiet for a place where a lot of girls would be playing, but she was looking forward to meeting all these girls. Mother went to speak to the other grown ups whilst the little girl was taken to meet all the new friends.
She was taken to this enormous walled garden with a big lawned area in the centre, there were girls of all ages from three to sixteen, some were skipping, some were playing "Cross over Red Rover", some were playing charms and still others were playing hopscotch. The little girl was taken to a group of girls her own age and these girls were told to show her the games and to make her feel welcome. After a while the little girl asked where her Mother was and if it was time to go home yet? She was told that she was here to stay and that her mother would be returning to visit her in a few weeks. The little girl was devastated and could not believe that her mother would ever desert her like this, even worse, to do so on the same day that her father had left, what was to become of her?
Well, the weeks dragged into months and the months turned into years and her mother never came to visit neither did she return to fetch the little girl. Although the little girl was among a lot of other girls she never stopped feeling lonely and she never stopped thinking that this weekend her mother would come to visit her like the other girl's mothers. While she waited for her mother to come and fetch her she discovered the magnificent garden.
The garden was so beautiful that the little girl firmly believed that fairies had to be alive and well in such a beautiful garden. So the little girl started making a garden for the fairies, she would build castles out of sand for the fairies to live in, she would pick the pretty flowers and sprinkle the petals along the paths she had made around the castle and she would pick twigs from other plants to act as trees around the castle. How could any fairy resist living here. In this garden she learnt some amazing things.
She learnt so many valuable life lessons in this garden, she learnt about true beauty, about discovery and adventure, about creatures, about being observant, about life cycles, about patience, about humility, about inner peace and spirituality and most of all she learnt self sufficiency in spite of adversity, she also witnessed wonders....
She found that some of the twigs she had stuck into the ground sprouted and this became an exact replica of the mother plant, bearing the same flowers and fruit as time went by. She discovered that if you waited long enough even a dead twig could resurrect into dozens of new buds that would soon open into leaves and so the lifecycle continued. She also discovered the world of creatures, beautiful butterflies resplendent in the most awesome markings and colour combinations whose life was too short but very necessary in the bigger picture. She discovered the golden beetles on the morning glory vines, these beautiful shiny golden beetles who were once some little grey scruffy insects with large fluffy tails, she discovered that no matter what your interior decorator tells you about certain colours not matching others, this is not true, just look at any garden and see that all colours of the rainbow and beyond match beautifully and naturally. She learnt that all plants live together in harmony, each vying for your attention through either unusual foliage or brilliant blooms. She learnt about the art of camouflage among the insects and creatures. She learnt that there is a place in the world for everyone, good, bad or ugly.
The little girl also discovered metamorphosis and she still firmly believes that her mother morphed from a loving, beautiful person into a person that didn't care about her anymore and she still excitedly waits for that final butterfly metamorphosis when her real mother will reappear.
