The Garden (Discontinued)

Passage 3

It was night now. As Meisha got ready for bed, she began to feel like someone was watching her. She looked around nervously, but there was only Alexander, snoozing. She decided to try and ignore the feeling again and brushed her teeth.

  She could hear rustles! Mei looked out her window, feeling more and more nervous. A big tree was hidden right behind her window, and now Meisha was sure the sounds were coming from there. Determined, she climbed onto the window sill and leaned sideways so she could see into the branches. As soon as she did, she almost didn't notice the girl looking through the leaves and branches right at her. Before she knew it, the green eyes looking right at her.

In pure shock, Meisha nearly fell out of the window itself, but she managed to hold on. "What are you doing in a tree next to my house?" Was the first thing Meisha could think of to say. The girl was the same girl she had seen in rags at the bus stop, and her eyes had a mischievous look in them.

   "I was going to sleep, but I saw your lights on, and thought you were awake. Who are you?" she asked, calmly, as though it was over a cup of tea and not in branches and night clothes. Meisha suddenly realize that this girl was the first to ever to willingly stray away from the Garden. How?

"Well... I'm Meisha. Why aren't you in the Garden, with the rest of the kids?" Meisha asked slowly. The girl shrugged.
 
   "I saw the bridge when we got here, then I saw your house, it looked lonely and I thought I'd come to adventure! So why are you living so far away from the village?" Meisha was in shock. The kids rarely ever wander away from the Garden. The power of the garden usually compelled them to stay, with it's bright lights and colourful candies. Unless... did the Gardens power reach beyond the walls? Meisha always thought the magic of the Garden only affected the villages boundaries. Could the Garden's power be spreading past the river? Could Meisha still be affected by the Garden after all?

    "Do you want to leave the Garden?" Meisha asked, absently ignoring her question. The girl thought about it for a moment, then shook her head.

   "Aren't we just here for a couple of days? That's what the bus driver said, Eva, I think her name was? She said we could leave after we had learned about the Garden," she replied. Meisha felt her heart sink. Eva had always been keen on lying, so it wasn't a surprise that she had lied so easily to them. But it still irked her that they were okay with what the Garden would do to the children.

  "Um, so? Why are you over here?" The girl asked impatiently. Meisha sighed, and wobbled a little on her windowsill. Her head nearly collided with the top of the window, and she repositioned herself so she would be sitting, then paused.

   "Do you want to come inside..?" She started, purposefully trying to dodge the question. That, and Mei's story was quite a long one. She didn't think the girl would want to listen to her stories out in the freezing night. The girl seemed to catch on to Mei's ignore to her question, but ended up nodding. Meisha climbed back into her safe abode and ran downstairs, pulling her front door open. A moment later, the girl, with many twigs and leaves stuck in her hair, approached the door, smiling slightly. "My name's Anna."

  "Anna, that's a nice name," Mei replied, busying herself with making a bit of hot tea, "Tea?"

  "Um, do you have that brown drink that smells really good?" The girl asked, biting her lip.
Mm
  "You mean.. Hot chocolate?" Meisha was slightly surprised the girl didn't know about the delicious drink, then again, when she arrived she didn't look to have much money. "I do have some." Mei reached into a drawer and pulled out a brown and white packet.

  "So, I still want to know why you're here," the bold girl raised an eyebrow, knowing that Meisha had dodged the question before. Mei paused for a moment.

  "It's a long story. I'm sure you wouldn't be interested." Meisha mumbled, pouring the packet into the warm water and stirring it. Oo

  "Oh, on the.. Con..contary I do!" Anna said, a smirk lying on her face for mustering a big word. Meisha couldn't help but giggle slightly.

   "Contrary, and really, you don't want to know. I have a very long story."

  "Come on! Please?" The small girl dragged out the word, reminding Meisha of Alexander when he wanted an extra treat. Speaking of Alexander, he meandered down the stairs, noticed Anna, then promptly ran up to her, trying to lick her face. Anna laughed a little, keeping the big dog at bay by shoving him so he laid down, and even Meisha chuckled a little. "C'mon, why can't you tell me?"

   "I..." Meisha started, realizing that she was lost for words. Looking for something to do, she picked up her drinks that she made for the both of them and handed Anna hers, then began sipping. She began to feel oddly anxious.

  "You're dodging the question again. You have all night to tell me!" The girl bargained, taking the hot cocoa and petting the big dog simultaneously.

  Meisha parted her lips from her mug. "You're very persistent. Annoyingly so," Meisha sighed, feeling butterflies in her stomach just from thinking about talking about her past. Anna smiled triumphantly, knowing she was about to get some bit of the story out of the woman.

   "You want to know why I live out here?" Anna nodded. Meisha sighed again, but this time lighter. "I visited the Garden when I was a child, like you. I was 13 years old. Same circumstances too. After a while, maybe a few days later, I realized what the Garden really was. I tried to leave, but it wouldn't let me." Meisha took a pause in her speech to dart her eyes to Anna to see that she wanted to say something, probably ask a question, but she waited patiently. Meisha continued. "So, with the Garden refusing me exit, I had to live somewhere. The adults despise me, and I to them, so I couldn't live with them. I decided to build my own home out here."

  "Is that all? That doesn't seem like everything," Anna started skeptically.

  "Oh, it's definitely not everything."

   "Why won't you tell me more then?!"

Meisha finished her drink and set it down by the couch. "For starters, it's quite late. You should be asleep by now."

Anna pouted. "I'm not tired though..." Meisha had to hide her smile. Anna was acting like a young toddler; Mei couldn't help but find it adorable. So this is what it was like to hang with children...

   "At your age, it's critical to get sleep, now more than anything." Anna rolled her eyes and sighed. "You can sleep in my bedroom, if you'd like." Meisha said, and Anna looked up at her.

   "Where will you sleep then?"

   "On the couch. I have Alexander, so I'll be fine." Meisha replied.

   "What about the other adults? You said they didn't like you..."

   "What about the other adults?"

   "Well, they don't know I snuck out to see you. They might notice I'm gone in the morning,"

   "It'll be fine. I'll just let them know you crashed at my place."

   "I can't imagine that going well, but fine. I'll sleep here," Anna yawned fiercely, "but only because you asked me to." The small girl closed her eyes briefly, then opened them quickly. Meisha smiled slightly, then ushered the girl up the stairs and into her room. Anna practically fell into the bed and dozed off immediately. Mei pulled the covers over the girl's body, then went downstairs to sleep herself. Alexander laying down in front of the couch in a protective manner.