The prompt for this weeks Writers Island is Deja vu. This is probably not exactly what they had in mind, but I offer it to you anyway!
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It was a beautiful little plant. I’d had it for years. It sat right in the middle of my rockery surrounded by other pretty plants, but there was something special about this one. Somehow it shone; it reflected the summer sun and almost seemed to smile. All around, the other plants seemed to look up to it! Except one or two which seemed determined to smother it and strangle its roots.
Winter arrived and one by one the plants withered and went into hibernation. The bright colours of yesterday faded away to be replaced by sparkling silver frost and a coat of pure white snow. Beneath the frozen soil some would survive and others would simply fade away.
The first days of spring warmed the earth and woke my plants from their slumbers. They pushed their way through the surface and stretched their leaves toward the sky. I was so looking forward to welcoming my favourite plant to a new year, but it was nowhere to be seen. The plants that had tried to kill it last year seemed to have succeeded. They stood taller than ever as if trying to tell the world that they now ruled the garden.
It was Good Friday and I was getting the garden ready for outdoor days to come. My thoughts turned to my little plant. I carefully dug into the soil hoping to see some sign of life, but all I found was a mass of rotting roots where my plant had once grown.
Suddenly my daughter appeared in tears. Her precious pet hamster had died. At first she was inconsolable, but after a while she composed herself and asked if we could bury it among the flowers near her swing. She made a small wooden cross from a couple of sicks and laid her pet to rest.
On Easter Day my daughter was excitedly searching in the garden for the chocolate eggs I’d hidden. She suddenly rushed into the house then dragged me outside. ‘Come quickly’ she said. She pointed toward the flower bed, and there beside the wooden cross, my little plant stood in full bloom with two leaves outstretched toward us.
‘It’s a miracle Daddy’ said my daughter. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
'Earth's saddest day and gladdest day were just three days apart!'- Susan Coolidge
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May I wish you a happy Easter
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