Let's Play in the Garden Read Online Free Page A

spectators. It would be a large, beautiful puzzle when finally completed.
    She picked up three pieces and carefully put them into place, then went to her bureau. She picked up the swirled brush and slowly ran it through her hair in a flowing motion. From her window she could see the protective wall of the garden, and over it she was just barely able to see the luscious tress that stretched gracefully to the skies. Birds skimmed from one to the other. With a yawn, she went to her bed with the brush still in hand and decided to rest before dinner.

3. What Lies Beyond
    Hours passed in the quiet house. Merydith had fallen asleep, Gladys and Marion continued to play Gin, the boys continued to play marbles, and Simon was busy in his workshop weaving together more brilliant creations and ideas, for what purpose no one knew.
    The air grew cool and it was time that dinner was at last started. After a final game of Gin, which Gladys had finally won, she entered the kitchen to prepare another home-cooked meal.
    Gladys looked out the window at the yard and the road that stretched from it to the wooded area as she prepped freshly picked vegetables from the garden. She was proud of her place in the house and what they had accomplished. The location she and Simon had chosen to build their house on was equally as beautiful and bountiful as the Santaneen grounds.
    A ways up the rocky dirt road was an ominous forest. It crept up both sides of the road as if it waited to pounce on unsuspecting travelers. Gladys thought of how it took Simon about forty-five minutes to drive to the center of Willington where the children’s school was located, along with the town market, the town offices, and police station.
    It was always pleasurable to travel the road into town no matter what season it was. The view was breathtaking. In the summer, everything was lush and vibrant. In the fall, all was colorful and dazzling. In the winter, everything was sparkling with ice. In the spring, everything was reborn.
    Trips to town were always special because they were limited to the adults, mostly, and were a treat for the children. The only part they got to see was when Simon took them to school every day in his old green pickup. He took them straight to the school doorstep, then picked them up when it let out, and not a minute after. They were not allowed to go anywhere else without an adult, and they never dared step foot off school grounds. If Simon ever found out…well, Gladys didn’t like to think about that.
    ###
    Shades of red and hazy orange painted the sky like a blanket laid gently across the county. Through the forest, two young men made their way. They were young drifters that had been traveling all day and were growing tired.
    “When we reach town we’ll check in at some bed and breakfast overnight and get a fresh start in the morning,” the taller of the two said.
    “Yeah, Mark, it’ll be nice to get off my feet. We’ve been traveling all day. The concert’s still in three days so there’s plenty of time till we catch it,” responded the shorter man.
    This was a sort of pilgrimage for them. The two were very earthy, crunchy types. All natural guys who ate bean sprouts and tofu for fun, consumed kelp for health reasons, saved the whales, supported animal rights, and helped the environment. There was nothing like a cross-country hike, especially if it was to see a Save the Earth Concert.
    Their packs were heavy and each carried a large, rolled-up sleeping bag with plans of spending all night at the concert once they reached the location. “By the way, Tom, what town are we in anyway?”
    Tom stopped and gave his friend Mark a confused smile. “I haven’t the slightest idea. Why don’t you pull out the map and try to find it? I know we’re in South Carolina, but that’s all I know.”
    They stopped and knelt in a clearing of grassy patches in the forest. The foliage was beginning to run so deep that the sunlight had to fight its way