Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: GREEN (01/19/17)
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TITLE: Relief | Previous Challenge Entry
By Terry Bovinet
01/26/17 -
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The last rain fell on Easter morning. That gentle, peaceful shower ended mid-day when the winds blew away the clouds and the sun made its brilliant presence known. But the hope for more spring rains to follow the Easter blessing never materialized.
The area needed a resurrection of its own.
Severe water restrictions in the city prevented any form of watering. Cars, no matter the original color, took on the same dingy earthen tint. The water level in pools inched lowered day-by-day and once sparkling and clear liquid morphed into globs of smelly algae.
Helene’s tender care could not overcome the ravages of nature. Every morning she resisted the almost overwhelming urge to sneak out before the first light and bring some refreshment to her stressed plants.
“Lord, you do realize we need some rain?” Helene leaned on her hoe as she spoke these words not angrily, but wistfully.
She talked daily to Liz, her sister who lived in Ohio, and would cringe slightly at her reports. “Another quarter inch today. That makes two for the week. I can’t remember a summer when it has rained so much,” Liz exclaimed.
“I imagine your ...” Helene could not finish. She intended to say “garden.” The sisters shared a love of gardening and would discuss plants and strategies year round. Although their different home regions, Helene lived in the Southwest, seldom required the same techniques, sharing their stories helped bridge the miles.
“I am so sorry, dear. I know this summer has taken its toll on you as much as your ...,” Liz’s voice trailed off to silence.
“New topic!” Helene bravely announced although a few minutes later the conversation ended with Helene feeling badly that she may have upset her beloved sister.
Late that night, Helene watched the news, but her mind strayed during the world and national reports as she awaited the weather.
She wondered aloud, “Maybe I should till the garden under and call it a year.”
The weather report offered some support for her consideration.
“Sorry. No relief in sight.” She repeated the forecast from the chief meteorologist.
She continued to listen. “One computer model, however, does indicate the slightest chance that a low pressure system may stream north out of Mexico, but it looks like even that does not hold a lot of moisture in it.”
She fell asleep with a plan for the morning before the sun renewed it course of blistering heat. A plan she dreaded, but one that would prevent any further stress on the already overtaxed dirt in her garden.
At 2:14 a.m., the rustling of chimes located on the back patio awakened her with their soulful tinkle that would touch her with a sense of calm. The chimes seldom sounded these days. The intense heat had seemingly scared away any cooling breezes that may have moved them.
Helene drifted back to sleep as she laid out her action steps for her morning, a morning she already dreaded. As the hint of daylight appeared, the chimes, now clanging, rousted her from a fitful sleep.
“Just as well as I need to get at it.”
She opened her window treatments to a sight that startled her fully awake. Water droplets traced their way down her window in haphazard paths.
“Rain.” She uttered with equal degrees of celebration and surprise.
Although she normally did not watch television in the morning, too much life to embrace, she turned on her set. The station that had announced the grim prediction last night cheerfully provided an update.
“Folks, we missed the forecast a bit, but I don’t think anyone will mind. A cold front did move in last night that has dropped a steady shower on the area for three hours or so. We expect the rain to continue today until around noon.”
Throwing a robe over her pajamas, Helene scurried outside in her bare feet. The unmistakable aroma of a summer rain enveloped her. She did not mind the mud that started caking on her feet as she approached her garden. Dropping to her knees by the first row of plants, she moved back the now moist and softened earth and carefully examined the trunk of a stem.
“Green!”
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