A short story...
I really like to write and sometimes I hesitate to share my tales. I was encouraged to share this one. It was turned in for an assignment recently. I hope you all enjoy! I titled it
The Orchid in Terceira Island.
CHAPTER ONE: The Great Find
“and the men who hold high places must be the ones to start, to mold in you reality closer to the heart, closer to the heart” Rush
I was breathless! I found a new species of Orchids! It was not just one plant it was a garden of them! They were beautiful! I bent down to smell the white and blue spotted beauty. It was the find one only reads about in books. I, Art Diaz, had an orchid to associate with the name I hoped would describe it, someday, and today was THAT day! I was naming my new find after my grandfather Inez. I guessed from what my father taught me, it belonged to the Plantanthera species found here by Schlecter in 1817. Plantanthera- Inez would be the name. I had to pluck one of the blossoms.
As I was ready to pluck it I heard a little girl’s laughter. I turned and walking towards me was a young girl with a blue silk dress and white slippers walking towards me. She was very pretty and I would guess she was 5 years old. “Hello, Artie! My name is Isis!” she said.
I was curious, “How do you know my name?”
She smiled and giggled as she sat next to me and grabbed my hand to invite me to sit. “I know a lot about you, aren’t this flowers pretty?” she asked.
“Yes, they are.” I remember the gazing in her eyes and wondering where her parents were. “Where are your mom and dad? How do you know me?” I asked again.
“Artie you are very blessed! These flowers have been here for a very long time and you are one of a few people to ever see this garden. This garden is protected. You see that old bat by the steam rock?” she pointed to the south. I could see a huge bat on top of a lava rock. It was antsy and looking our way. “His name is Lork. Lork is a very bad person.”
“That is not a person it’s a bat.” I stated.
“Look again.” As I glanced there was a very old man sitting on the rock. He was wearing a fancy suit, shiny red shoes and fiddling with his watch. He winked at me and tapped the watch as he glared at Isis. “I don’t have a lot of time to talk. You are going to make a choice soon that will eventually change the rest of your life and all I can tell you is to be faithful to what you believe is right and have faith. Blessings Artie. I will see you soon and bye the way…” she whispered “I am an Angel.” In an instant a flash blinded me like the flash from a camera and a chill went up my spine. She was gone.
“Artie, my man.” In an instant the old guy bye the rock was right behind me. He was wrinkled and his teeth gleamed. His teeth were too perfect for an aged person. “How you doing? My name is Lucky. Do you feel lucky? You found a very very nice flower. Take one, go ahead” he gestured to the blossoms “pluck one of these babies and show it off to your father. You know he will be very proud of you!” he said smiling.
I knew something was not right. Everything inside me wanted to get the flower and call it my own but I couldn’t. It just didn’t feel right. “Who are you?” I asked.
“Who are you Artie? That’s the question. You know your father has been talking about this all his life. The find; isn’t that what he calls it? The find of the century!” he spread his arms like he was announcing a game show. “A lot of people will be happy to hear about this. Think of how many homes and love birds will be giving this here little flower away as a gift.”
I did think about that. All my life my father would tell me how rare it is to find a flower like this. How expensive it can be and how our life could be set if we found a rare one. Through out his military career and my entire 13 year old life we traveled the world searching for the one- the one particular flower that would change our lives.
“I’ll pass-“I motioned him with my hand and I felt uneasy; so, I took off running. As I was running I could hear the old man laughing.
“You will be back!” He yelled as I ran. I glanced back and I could see Isis by the north edge of the garden and off to the opposite side of Lucky. She was applauding and jumping for joy! I wondered what I would tell my dad and if he would believe me.
As I got home there were a lot of police, firemen and people from the military base by my front door. I recognized one of the firemen; he was a neighbor from near bye. “Here he comes captain!” I heard him speaking to a military officer. He walked to meet me and held me from my shoulder. “Hey Artie, how is it going?” He asked.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s your dad Artie, he, he got a little sick” he was trying to go easy on me, I could tell.
“What happened to my dad?” I could see my dad being rolled into an ambulance.
“Dad! Dad!” I tried getting to him but I was held down. I began crying and I was very confused.
“Artie your dad had a stroke. He is in very bad shape and the best thing you can do for him is stay calm. You are going to stay with us for a while and I promise to take you to see your dad every day”
“No, no, no!” I yelled and struggled, “I want to see him now!” I ran from his grip and as I approached the ambulance the doors closed. They were trying to revive him. I was very distraught.
That night after crying myself to sleep on a sofa in the house of Captain Ryan Batie and his family, I had a very strange dream. I was on an island the island was a floating island. I was flying to different parts of the world with the small island underneath me. I could see all the different cultures and the beauty in each different country. Isis was riding and standing next to me. The people danced, ate and gave hugs to each other. The children were happy and playing in school yards.
After a while the scenery changed- I began to see the opposite of those cultures. There were men killing each other and women and children dying. Lucky was standing next to me laughing at the calamity. Then his figure changed. He transformed into a huge beast with broken wings. He had a bow made of bones and arrows made of snakes. He was shooting them at drunken men and men who were confused about life. They would get hit and begin to do evil things. I didn’t want to see it anymore…I yelled “Stop!”
“Stop what boy!?” The monster Lucky boasted in deep raspy voice. “You cannot stop this...hahahaha!” he was frightening me.
Then out of the sky what appeared like a fast approaching comet shot towards us. The most beautiful thing I saw appeared. She was breathless! A beautiful Angel with a sword and a small wooden box. I knew it was Isis. She stood over the beast and pinned him with her feet. He was motionless and his face was covered in his hands because her light hurt his eyes. “Don’t be afraid—“she said “this is not the way things will always be, look down” As I looked the men who had created so much calamity had either died or were regretful and the ones who were regretful lived a good life. A light from the sky followed them that were doing better, as they repaired the societies and lives they hurt.
I was amazed at the way things can be changed once the men made those choices to change. “and that is it...Artie—you have to make the right choices” as she said this she gave me the little box. I opened it slowly. Inside was the orchid.
I woke up early the next morning. Capt Batie’s two paternal twins, Eli and Naomi were watching cartoons and eating cereal. I made my way out the door and headed towards the hospital. “Tell your dad I left to the hospital.” I said as I left out the door.
CHAPTER TWO: Tough Encounters
“drain you of your sanity face the things that should not be” Metallica
My dad was not responsive. I was numb. He lay there with all sorts of machines and a breathing apparatus. It was quiet except for the noise of the machines and monitors. I wanted to cry but not in front of my dad. This was not the place. I could do nothing for him here. I knew I could help him but not how. His hands were across his stomach clasped, with each finger over the other. I had to touch him, “Dad we are going to be okay—hang in there.” I said as I put my hand over his. I knew it would take something extraordinary to get him out of this. I knew my answers were at the garden where the orchid was.
I ran over there trying to remember the spot where I made the find. The whole time I was running I was remembering the good times with my dad. We played catch, we raced bikes, and we read together and colored together. I can’t recollect a time when I was not happy near my dad. I kept moving. His smile was bringing tears to my eyes and I couldn’t run anymore. I was exhausted! I broke down tired and crying.
I felt a cold touch on my shoulder. As I opened my eyes I was there in the orchid garden. Lucky was smiling. He was over my shoulder. I got up quickly and threw his hand off my shoulder. “Easy little fella” he was so evil. “We don’t want you to end up like your father all laid up in a hospital, ha-ha, after I am done with you!” he snarled.
“I am not afraid of you!” I yelled and grabbed a rock. As I threw the rock at him he collapsed into a whole bunch of creepy bugs, worms and beetles. He collected himself again and kept laughing.
“Look here boy! I am done playing with you do you want to save your father or not?” He asked.
He was evil and I did not trust him. Still, I was in need of answers and the only way I was going to get them was by sizing his offer up. “Yes, but at what cost?” I asked.
“What do you have that I don’t already have?” He asked me.
“I don’t know just get to the point!”
“Your soul boy!” He pointed his finger at my chest, “Your life!”
I was scared. Then I remembered from the dream not to be because that light followed me when I made right choices, only this time I could not see a comet or an angel like in my dream. All I could see were the field of clouds over my head and the blue sky.
“She is not coming boy! This is our time! You are making this choice on your own!” He ran his finger across the orchids. “Just pluck one of these babies and take it to your father, the nearest flower shop or hell the university they’ll know what to do with it. He will wake right up as soon as you do that. Call it a signature on our agreement; an action of faith.” He was serious. “So what do you say boy?”
“I want to make the right choice! I think by making the right choice and losing my dad for it is okay because at least I can live with knowing that I made the right choice!”
“You father needs to live boy!” He was getting angry “Life is a great choice and helping him live is the right choice! Why would you think otherwise?”
“What if you’re lying? What happens when I go do what you ask and my father still dies? I don’t feel I can trust you!” I told him.
“That is a risk you will have to take boy! Life is all about risks. Are you willing to risk the life of your father for making, what you think, is a right choice?”
“I am.” I was done.
“Then run you little coward! Go and see your father die!” He yelled
I left that garden confused. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. I began to doubt my sanity. I was beginning to think that all this was something my mind had made up to cope with the tragedy my father suffered. Everything was just so real but I could not explain it. How did the garden appear? How did Lucky and Isis look so real? The orchids they were real too, I thought, something I never seen before in my life. I could not explain it.
CHAPTER THREE: Miracles
“That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die” HP Lovecraft
I did not leave my dad’s side for anything until bed time. In the mornings I would get up from the Batie’s home and go back to the sofa chair next to his hospital bed. Sometimes I had to leave the room while they washed and checked him but for the most part I was next to him.
All I kept thinking about was our life. The important things to me in this world were my dad and his love. My toys, my bike my stuff didn’t matter to me. What mattered was my dad.
The chaplain said something to me the other day that made me think. He said that our lives were about relationships. Everything we had would stay on this earth except our relationships. The only thing we would take with us was the love and memory of those relationships we had on earth. The most important one was the relationship I had with my God, then family, next is friends and finally my community. He said in the community I had my job like going to school and making good grades, my church and my country.
This all made sense. I thought about telling the chaplain about my dream and the garden but I didn’t. I was afraid he or someone else might try and go back, if they didn’t think I was crazy.
The machines in my father’s room started going loud! I was rushed outside the room and there were nurses and doctors scrambling to get to my father. He was dying. I just knew it. I began to cry and wonder why bad things happen to good people. Why would God allow this to happen to my dad? He never did anything wrong to anyone. I was very sad. As I was crying in a waiting room I heard Isis’s laugh. I ran down the hall. I followed the laugh into many rooms and staircases. I couldn’t find her. “Isis?” I asked, then the laugh again. I was looking for a long time. I began thinking I was going crazy. I ended up in the same wing my dad was in, when one of the nurses approached me.
“We have been looking for you everywhere! Where did you go?” She asked.
“Nowhere…” I shrugged. I didn’t want her to think I was insane so I didn’t mention the fact that I was looking for a little girl’s laugh in the hospital.
“Well, your father is breathing on his own now!” She said
“Is he better?” I asked.
“It’s a good sign!” She led me back to his room.
I was there for about an hour when my dad opened his eyes. He smiled at me. I got up and hugged him. All I kept thinking was…get better dad.
“Art” he said in raspy sound. I got him a little bit of water. As he drank it I could see life in his eyes.
“Artie, how are you? How you doing?”
“Okay, dad get some rest—don’t try to get up.” I gently rubbed his arm.
“Man, I feel beat...how long was I out for?”
“About a week and a half, I missed you dad.” I was hugging him as gently as I could and I was trying my hardest not to cry.
“It didn’t seem that long. I love you Artie” As I was hugging him all could think about was not ever letting my dad go. “Nice flower thanks”, he said “Where did you get that beauty?”
I turned to see what he was looking at and sitting on top of the television set in his hospital room was the orchid I found-- in a crystal vase. There was a note on it. My eyes were teary and wide! I leaped up and grabbed the vase and I knew then that what happened to me was real. I didn’t imagine any of it! I opened the envelope and the writing was inlayed in gold. It read:
EPHESIANS 3:20
" The will of God will never take you where the Grace of
“and the men who hold high places must be the ones to start, to mold in you reality closer to the heart, closer to the heart” Rush
I was breathless! I found a new species of Orchids! It was not just one plant it was a garden of them! They were beautiful! I bent down to smell the white and blue spotted beauty. It was the find one only reads about in books. I, Art Diaz, had an orchid to associate with the name I hoped would describe it, someday, and today was THAT day! I was naming my new find after my grandfather Inez. I guessed from what my father taught me, it belonged to the Plantanthera species found here by Schlecter in 1817. Plantanthera- Inez would be the name. I had to pluck one of the blossoms.
As I was ready to pluck it I heard a little girl’s laughter. I turned and walking towards me was a young girl with a blue silk dress and white slippers walking towards me. She was very pretty and I would guess she was 5 years old. “Hello, Artie! My name is Isis!” she said.
I was curious, “How do you know my name?”
She smiled and giggled as she sat next to me and grabbed my hand to invite me to sit. “I know a lot about you, aren’t this flowers pretty?” she asked.
“Yes, they are.” I remember the gazing in her eyes and wondering where her parents were. “Where are your mom and dad? How do you know me?” I asked again.
“Artie you are very blessed! These flowers have been here for a very long time and you are one of a few people to ever see this garden. This garden is protected. You see that old bat by the steam rock?” she pointed to the south. I could see a huge bat on top of a lava rock. It was antsy and looking our way. “His name is Lork. Lork is a very bad person.”
“That is not a person it’s a bat.” I stated.
“Look again.” As I glanced there was a very old man sitting on the rock. He was wearing a fancy suit, shiny red shoes and fiddling with his watch. He winked at me and tapped the watch as he glared at Isis. “I don’t have a lot of time to talk. You are going to make a choice soon that will eventually change the rest of your life and all I can tell you is to be faithful to what you believe is right and have faith. Blessings Artie. I will see you soon and bye the way…” she whispered “I am an Angel.” In an instant a flash blinded me like the flash from a camera and a chill went up my spine. She was gone.
“Artie, my man.” In an instant the old guy bye the rock was right behind me. He was wrinkled and his teeth gleamed. His teeth were too perfect for an aged person. “How you doing? My name is Lucky. Do you feel lucky? You found a very very nice flower. Take one, go ahead” he gestured to the blossoms “pluck one of these babies and show it off to your father. You know he will be very proud of you!” he said smiling.
I knew something was not right. Everything inside me wanted to get the flower and call it my own but I couldn’t. It just didn’t feel right. “Who are you?” I asked.
“Who are you Artie? That’s the question. You know your father has been talking about this all his life. The find; isn’t that what he calls it? The find of the century!” he spread his arms like he was announcing a game show. “A lot of people will be happy to hear about this. Think of how many homes and love birds will be giving this here little flower away as a gift.”
I did think about that. All my life my father would tell me how rare it is to find a flower like this. How expensive it can be and how our life could be set if we found a rare one. Through out his military career and my entire 13 year old life we traveled the world searching for the one- the one particular flower that would change our lives.
“I’ll pass-“I motioned him with my hand and I felt uneasy; so, I took off running. As I was running I could hear the old man laughing.
“You will be back!” He yelled as I ran. I glanced back and I could see Isis by the north edge of the garden and off to the opposite side of Lucky. She was applauding and jumping for joy! I wondered what I would tell my dad and if he would believe me.
As I got home there were a lot of police, firemen and people from the military base by my front door. I recognized one of the firemen; he was a neighbor from near bye. “Here he comes captain!” I heard him speaking to a military officer. He walked to meet me and held me from my shoulder. “Hey Artie, how is it going?” He asked.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s your dad Artie, he, he got a little sick” he was trying to go easy on me, I could tell.
“What happened to my dad?” I could see my dad being rolled into an ambulance.
“Dad! Dad!” I tried getting to him but I was held down. I began crying and I was very confused.
“Artie your dad had a stroke. He is in very bad shape and the best thing you can do for him is stay calm. You are going to stay with us for a while and I promise to take you to see your dad every day”
“No, no, no!” I yelled and struggled, “I want to see him now!” I ran from his grip and as I approached the ambulance the doors closed. They were trying to revive him. I was very distraught.
That night after crying myself to sleep on a sofa in the house of Captain Ryan Batie and his family, I had a very strange dream. I was on an island the island was a floating island. I was flying to different parts of the world with the small island underneath me. I could see all the different cultures and the beauty in each different country. Isis was riding and standing next to me. The people danced, ate and gave hugs to each other. The children were happy and playing in school yards.
After a while the scenery changed- I began to see the opposite of those cultures. There were men killing each other and women and children dying. Lucky was standing next to me laughing at the calamity. Then his figure changed. He transformed into a huge beast with broken wings. He had a bow made of bones and arrows made of snakes. He was shooting them at drunken men and men who were confused about life. They would get hit and begin to do evil things. I didn’t want to see it anymore…I yelled “Stop!”
“Stop what boy!?” The monster Lucky boasted in deep raspy voice. “You cannot stop this...hahahaha!” he was frightening me.
Then out of the sky what appeared like a fast approaching comet shot towards us. The most beautiful thing I saw appeared. She was breathless! A beautiful Angel with a sword and a small wooden box. I knew it was Isis. She stood over the beast and pinned him with her feet. He was motionless and his face was covered in his hands because her light hurt his eyes. “Don’t be afraid—“she said “this is not the way things will always be, look down” As I looked the men who had created so much calamity had either died or were regretful and the ones who were regretful lived a good life. A light from the sky followed them that were doing better, as they repaired the societies and lives they hurt.
I was amazed at the way things can be changed once the men made those choices to change. “and that is it...Artie—you have to make the right choices” as she said this she gave me the little box. I opened it slowly. Inside was the orchid.
I woke up early the next morning. Capt Batie’s two paternal twins, Eli and Naomi were watching cartoons and eating cereal. I made my way out the door and headed towards the hospital. “Tell your dad I left to the hospital.” I said as I left out the door.
CHAPTER TWO: Tough Encounters
“drain you of your sanity face the things that should not be” Metallica
My dad was not responsive. I was numb. He lay there with all sorts of machines and a breathing apparatus. It was quiet except for the noise of the machines and monitors. I wanted to cry but not in front of my dad. This was not the place. I could do nothing for him here. I knew I could help him but not how. His hands were across his stomach clasped, with each finger over the other. I had to touch him, “Dad we are going to be okay—hang in there.” I said as I put my hand over his. I knew it would take something extraordinary to get him out of this. I knew my answers were at the garden where the orchid was.
I ran over there trying to remember the spot where I made the find. The whole time I was running I was remembering the good times with my dad. We played catch, we raced bikes, and we read together and colored together. I can’t recollect a time when I was not happy near my dad. I kept moving. His smile was bringing tears to my eyes and I couldn’t run anymore. I was exhausted! I broke down tired and crying.
I felt a cold touch on my shoulder. As I opened my eyes I was there in the orchid garden. Lucky was smiling. He was over my shoulder. I got up quickly and threw his hand off my shoulder. “Easy little fella” he was so evil. “We don’t want you to end up like your father all laid up in a hospital, ha-ha, after I am done with you!” he snarled.
“I am not afraid of you!” I yelled and grabbed a rock. As I threw the rock at him he collapsed into a whole bunch of creepy bugs, worms and beetles. He collected himself again and kept laughing.
“Look here boy! I am done playing with you do you want to save your father or not?” He asked.
He was evil and I did not trust him. Still, I was in need of answers and the only way I was going to get them was by sizing his offer up. “Yes, but at what cost?” I asked.
“What do you have that I don’t already have?” He asked me.
“I don’t know just get to the point!”
“Your soul boy!” He pointed his finger at my chest, “Your life!”
I was scared. Then I remembered from the dream not to be because that light followed me when I made right choices, only this time I could not see a comet or an angel like in my dream. All I could see were the field of clouds over my head and the blue sky.
“She is not coming boy! This is our time! You are making this choice on your own!” He ran his finger across the orchids. “Just pluck one of these babies and take it to your father, the nearest flower shop or hell the university they’ll know what to do with it. He will wake right up as soon as you do that. Call it a signature on our agreement; an action of faith.” He was serious. “So what do you say boy?”
“I want to make the right choice! I think by making the right choice and losing my dad for it is okay because at least I can live with knowing that I made the right choice!”
“You father needs to live boy!” He was getting angry “Life is a great choice and helping him live is the right choice! Why would you think otherwise?”
“What if you’re lying? What happens when I go do what you ask and my father still dies? I don’t feel I can trust you!” I told him.
“That is a risk you will have to take boy! Life is all about risks. Are you willing to risk the life of your father for making, what you think, is a right choice?”
“I am.” I was done.
“Then run you little coward! Go and see your father die!” He yelled
I left that garden confused. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. I began to doubt my sanity. I was beginning to think that all this was something my mind had made up to cope with the tragedy my father suffered. Everything was just so real but I could not explain it. How did the garden appear? How did Lucky and Isis look so real? The orchids they were real too, I thought, something I never seen before in my life. I could not explain it.
CHAPTER THREE: Miracles
“That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die” HP Lovecraft
I did not leave my dad’s side for anything until bed time. In the mornings I would get up from the Batie’s home and go back to the sofa chair next to his hospital bed. Sometimes I had to leave the room while they washed and checked him but for the most part I was next to him.
All I kept thinking about was our life. The important things to me in this world were my dad and his love. My toys, my bike my stuff didn’t matter to me. What mattered was my dad.
The chaplain said something to me the other day that made me think. He said that our lives were about relationships. Everything we had would stay on this earth except our relationships. The only thing we would take with us was the love and memory of those relationships we had on earth. The most important one was the relationship I had with my God, then family, next is friends and finally my community. He said in the community I had my job like going to school and making good grades, my church and my country.
This all made sense. I thought about telling the chaplain about my dream and the garden but I didn’t. I was afraid he or someone else might try and go back, if they didn’t think I was crazy.
The machines in my father’s room started going loud! I was rushed outside the room and there were nurses and doctors scrambling to get to my father. He was dying. I just knew it. I began to cry and wonder why bad things happen to good people. Why would God allow this to happen to my dad? He never did anything wrong to anyone. I was very sad. As I was crying in a waiting room I heard Isis’s laugh. I ran down the hall. I followed the laugh into many rooms and staircases. I couldn’t find her. “Isis?” I asked, then the laugh again. I was looking for a long time. I began thinking I was going crazy. I ended up in the same wing my dad was in, when one of the nurses approached me.
“We have been looking for you everywhere! Where did you go?” She asked.
“Nowhere…” I shrugged. I didn’t want her to think I was insane so I didn’t mention the fact that I was looking for a little girl’s laugh in the hospital.
“Well, your father is breathing on his own now!” She said
“Is he better?” I asked.
“It’s a good sign!” She led me back to his room.
I was there for about an hour when my dad opened his eyes. He smiled at me. I got up and hugged him. All I kept thinking was…get better dad.
“Art” he said in raspy sound. I got him a little bit of water. As he drank it I could see life in his eyes.
“Artie, how are you? How you doing?”
“Okay, dad get some rest—don’t try to get up.” I gently rubbed his arm.
“Man, I feel beat...how long was I out for?”
“About a week and a half, I missed you dad.” I was hugging him as gently as I could and I was trying my hardest not to cry.
“It didn’t seem that long. I love you Artie” As I was hugging him all could think about was not ever letting my dad go. “Nice flower thanks”, he said “Where did you get that beauty?”
I turned to see what he was looking at and sitting on top of the television set in his hospital room was the orchid I found-- in a crystal vase. There was a note on it. My eyes were teary and wide! I leaped up and grabbed the vase and I knew then that what happened to me was real. I didn’t imagine any of it! I opened the envelope and the writing was inlayed in gold. It read:
EPHESIANS 3:20
" The will of God will never take you where the Grace of
God will not protect you."
Love, Isis
THE END
THE END
posted by Big O at
2:45 PM
1 Comments
