The morning smelled of dew forming on the little lilies awakening to welcome the new day. The sun was just peeping over the mountains, making sure if the world was already prepared for his long journey across the sky.
Footsteps quickly but quietly descended down the long winding staircase. Clarence made sure nobody will see him; not this time, for his jar was nearly full.
The house was quiet, not eerily, but in a calming, peaceful way. He knew everyone was still asleep. He fumbled with the locks on the door with great care, careful not to make any other sound but the sound of his own heart beating against his chest.
He opened the door slowly, and the fresh morning air greeted him. He slowly stepped outside on the porch and spent a few moments taking in the fresh air into his lungs.
For the past six months he had been doing the same thing every morning, and nobody has ever suspected him of doing so.
He hurried over to his mother's beloved blossoms. Lilies, irises, chrysanthemums, orchids, and almost every flower you could imagine except pumpkins lined his mother's garden. His father has tended to it himself when Clarence's mother passed away.
Thankfully, the dew was still lingering on the flowers' lovely petals, patiently waiting for him.
As Clarence collected the dew, he thought about the jars sitting on his desk in his bedroom, containing the very same liquid he was gathering. He smiled. It was his mother who taught him about the dew. They used to have so many good times together, and his mother would tell him everything about the garden.
They would pick flowers, have picnics, share secrets, tell jokes, and frolic with the friendly animals that had chosen the garden for their home. They would wait for the robin eggs to hatch, and watch the ducks bobbing in the pond.
Sometimes, his father would let go of the worry and stress his business has caused him and join his wife and child. But there are a few times when Clarence's mother needed him, and he didn't go to her. One day she saw him with another woman, and from that day on she never spoke again. Clarence was sent to boarding school and his mother spent her days alone in the garden she once loved.
The garden deteriorated with her. The flowers refused to bloom; the birds flew down from the sky to grieve with her. But little by little they recovered with her, and the garden has never been in such beauty. The garden was happy, knowing that they also bring happiness to their lonely gardener.
When Clarence heard of his mother's passing away, he immediately hurried home to mourn with his family.
He discovered his father's unfaithfulness, causing a gap between him and his father, but he was still his dad, and Clarence forgave him, though he knew that things between him and his father would never be the same again.
Clarence's dad tried to rebuild his life with his son, and decided to fully let go of his business and focus on his writing career. He made it a point to tend to his wife's garden every day. Having his wife pass away without him asking for forgiveness, he still knew that she would appreciate it if her beloved garden did not die with her.
Clarence's jar was full.
Even if his mother was already gone for six months, Clarence still wondered if the dew was his mother's tears, the tears she used to water her beautiful garden.
