I’d like, too, to plant the sweet alyssum
that smells like honey and peace.
by Katherine Riegel, from the poem,
“What I would like to grow in my Garden.”
Summer’s wandered off. Harvest moon presides during crisp-aired dormiveglia that sweetens the apples. Not quite autumn, sunshine continues cavorting with wind’s playful nips.
Today, Melba strolls the medicinal garden in rural Shelby. The story goes that a cherry orchard once stood here. The girl’s parents owned the orchard, and the boy’s parents were sharecroppers for them. It was where two farm kids grew up together and fell in love as the years passed. One night her father heard them in the hayloft. The boy and his family were banished from the county.
The color in her cheeks faded; her skin waxen. She took to her bed – then passed.
Drought tindered the trees to flame; ash. Her pinch-faced mother planted one apple tree over her only daughter’s grave.
Like her, I’d like, too, to plant the sweet alyssum that smells like honey and peace.
[144 words]
This story is part fact, part fiction. There is a medicinal garden in Shelby, where a cherry orchard once stood. Alyssum is a medicinal plant with many properties, one of which is pain-killing. On Saturday a friend and I went to the garden. The top image is of an arnica blossom. Arnica is also a plant known for pain-killing properties. The rest is fiction (to my knowledge!)
Sanaa is today’s host for dVerse’ Prosery. Sanaa says:
write a very short piece of prose that tells a story, with a beginning, a middle and an end, in any genre of your choice. Since it is a kind of Flash Fiction, we here at the pub have a limit of 144 words. [W]rite a Prose piece which includes the [above] line.
Tao Talk 
What a sad story for a wonderful garden. I can really see how this may have happened for real… a fairytale lacking happy end.
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Thank you, Bjorn, and you’re right.
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The ending is a bit chilling though…but very sad story, and interesting explanation about the plant..
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Ain, for sure things take a dark turn. Thank goodness for the healing power of plants. Thank you for reading and your comment.
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This is deeply moving, Lisa! I love how seamlessly you have incorporated the line by Riegel here. Thank you so much for adding your voice to the prompt ❤❤
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Thanks much, Sanaa, for your kind words and for the wonderful line choice.
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Very nicely done! Flowers are such good way to remember the beauty in those who have passed!
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Dwight, thank you very much. Indeed.
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You are welcome!
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That’s a sad story. I felt so sorry for the mother, pinch-faced or not. I wonder if the apple tree flourished…
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Sarah thank you. In my imagination it stands in the center of the medicinal garden even now.
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A beautiful but sad tale, as outsiders interfere and prevent love from blossoming. I especially like way this feels with the prosery… ” Drought tindered the trees to flame; ash.” AND very cool to use “dormiveglia”.
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Many thanks, Mish.
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So sad. I imagine this story could almost be true. Thank you for the info. Medicinal gardens are interesting.
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It does feel true. You’re welcome, Merril. Thank you for reading and your comment.
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You’re welcome, Lisa!
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Such a sad story.
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<3
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A soothing sensory write despite the sombre end to the tale. And I really like learning the fun facts about the medicinal properties of the plants at the end! :-)
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Sunra, thanks so much :)
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A sad story, Lisa, you wrote it well in a short vessel. These things you spoke of do happen with some kids no matter where they live. My dad too was a sharecropper, his father owned the farm. Eventually my sister and I owned the farm, it was small. Here in southeast Texas along the Gulf Coast, we are still running temps in the nineties (F).
..
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Jim thank you very much and glad you can connect to the story.
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How could something so tragic be enchantingly poetic? Well done!
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Susan, thank you! <3
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A really sad story. I liked how the girls passing has an effect on the environment. So much said in just 144 words.
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Nitin, thank you. Often tragedy ends up having a positive “side effect.”
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this is beautiful Li! I love it! :-)
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Very happy you enjoyed it, thank you :)
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Short and sad one. Bravo
Much💛love
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Gillena, thank you <3
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You’ve written such a moving story Li.
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Thank you, Sadje.
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My pleasure
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Sad in its telling Lisa. :[
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Yes, unfortunately a very sad situation :(
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A ghost story…appropriate for a medicinal garden. (K)
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Thank you, Kerfe.
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Great sad story…medicinal plants intrigue me and it’s cool that they are a natural way to help people without chemicals.
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YES! Nobody benefits except the recipient. It’s off the capitalism grid :)
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So sad when parents stick their noses in “in the best interest” of their children… How wonderful that there is a medicinal garden!
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I covered a lot of turf in this one. Hopefully it all made sense.
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Yes, you did and it did!
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Oh my … your prose is incredibly bittersweet.
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Thank you, Helen.
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Beautifully written and bittersweet. This story may be fiction, but there are similar stories of people being separated by prejudice that happened in reality.
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I can very much believe that :( Thank you for reading.
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So gorgeously penned, but oh, the depth of meaning in that closing line, Lisa! You have taken the prompt phrase and redefined it. Brava!
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:::glowing::: from your high praise, Raivenne. Thank you.
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Sad, yes. But such is life. A good read.
Pat
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Pat, thank you very much.
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A beautiful tragedy, well played. I bet you would enjoy my site about plants too. 🌱😁
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😢 bittersweet, so good, MsJadeLi!
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Irene, thank you very much.
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