Roses of Malum

“You know we could have invested all this money into research, if only you could take your own advice and chill.” I said leaning towards Evelyn while trying my best to balance on a single foot.

“That’s what you said about our wedding. Now hush.” Evelyn sighed visibly but didn’t so much as bat an eye-lid in my direction. Like she saw this coming from a mile away.

“Well, I was right about that wasn’t I? Halving that wedding budget for donations brought us much more peace than wringing ourselves did this past hour…” “Oh hush now Lee!” Evelyn huffed using the nick-name she knew I despised, but her eyes still remained shut. Long eyelashes grazing her now pink cheeks.

A loud gong rang in the distance twice and everybody began unfolding themselves. The yoga class had finally ended and the instructor started chatting again, wishing us a good day. “Namaste!” she said in her over the top jolly tone and I scoffed. This was some utter poppycock! “Would you like a honey and milk bath next or are your childhood traumas quite washed away after that riveting session?” I chastised Evelyn, sarcasm dripping from my tone and she gave me one of her loud belly laughs. I almost felt better. Almost.

“You know that’s what I was going to suggest but…” she began after her giggles subsided and I exhaled in exasperation. “You liked the Jacuzzi on our honeymoon!” “I liked the sex!” I flung back not missing a beat. Her eyes went wide darting around, with a small smile on her lips as people started giving us the stink eye. “Geez what is this? Catholic finishing school for nuns!”

Evelyn giggled again but this time dragged me away by the arm, mumbling apologies to the stuck-up residents. “Let’s take a walk. Just you and me.” Her green eyes still glittered with mirth as she extended the so-called olive branch. “Let’s take a walk, the uncharted trail. Just you and me.” I bargained and they narrowed. “You perv!” She said and I laughed. “Okay, but only because you’ve been miserable.”

There was no uncharted trail in The Clearwood Meadows Wellness Centre, but we tried nonetheless. Apart from the grueling yoga and fitness sessions, no wi-fi/mobiles and no ‘coitus’ policies this place wasn’t half bad when it came to scenery. The cobbled pathway which had been laid down every which way finally disappeared as we neared a small passageway created by the canopy of huge wide oaks. Vines twisted and turned, coiling around the rusted iron gates in an archaic manner but there were no walls to be seen. I felt Evelyn’s grip tighten in mine.

The place had clearly been forgotten by the posh facility going by its unkempt appearance. “There’s no lock or anything.” Evelyn said after a while rubbing her lips in thought. She peeked in pushing apart the weeds that sprouted out from between the metal grates. “Maybe it’s a nursery they discontinued?” She says it like a statement and I sense the lingering question on her tongue. “We can check it out if you promise me to keep it in your pants, babe.”

The old thing gave away on the slightest of my touches, its hinges creaking and threatening to fall at once. It was obvious that the place had been abandoned as more weed greeted, our steps crunching from the gravel underneath. But there was still an indescribable charm to the place. Maybe it was the damp and musty smell setting it apart from every place we’d been here. It was beautiful in a way I’d never confess it to Evy.

Everything lay in ruins, almost ancient, with crumbling marble gazebos and bird-feeders now covered in moss and lichen. A steady sound of eddying water came from the distance, almost harmonizing with the chirping of the birds. “Unlike anything I’ve seen.” Evelyn said taking the words out of my mouth. “These are…extraordinary!” She breathed out but not praising the place as much as a bunch of wild lilies that were growing rampantly all over the place. “Why don’t they have this place on their schedule?” She looked like a kid in a candy shop.

Sunlight seemed to break through the dense foliage at some places, illuminating everything in a shade of golden. There was hardly much sky to be seen as the trees towered above us endlessly.  A fountain stood at the heart of it all. It must have had people fawning over it once but now stood yellowed with age and missing its water basin. A small stream of water however still burbled from it providing to a thriving colony of algae on the slick floor.

A broken plaque lay half buried under the rubble of crumbling granite and moss. Light glinted off of it and I squatted to take a better look. “The Garden,” I felt Evelyn breathe down my neck reading the engraved letters. “Zero points for originality.” I joke dusting my hands and standing up, yet unable to look away. I could have sworn I had seen something move there. 

“I think we did a fine job finding an uncharted territory.” She giggled twirling around where sunlight fell like a spotlight. A smile on her face that only grew wider when I leaned in for a kiss.

“Did you feel that?” Evelyn asked suddenly, our lips only a hair’s breadth away, her voice barely a whisper. “I-It’s been three weeks.” She didn’t reply though and I saw her brows furrow before she pulled away harshly. Her darting eyes went wide in horror and she jerked her leg letting out a distressed howl.

“Bloody hell!” I cursed seeing a snake hurtle through the air and land on a nearby tree stump. Thankfully it slithered away quickly disappearing under the creeper infestation on the floor. A beat passed between us as I caught a glimpse of Evelyn. Her face beet red and breathing ragged. A stifled laugh escaped her from the pent up adrenaline. “Do you think I hurt it? I was just dead scared.”

The fact however didn’t stop her from investigating further as she inched towards the corner it had disappeared.  

The tree stump lay hidden in a cluster of weed that had grown tall enough to reach our waists. As we shuffled through, another one those plaques caught my attention. This one in much better condition read ‘Malum’ in capital letters. Surprisingly no weed grew around it. Rather a bush of blood red roses bloomed from the roots of the stump encircling it like a shrine. “Doesn’t that mean…apple?” I asked but Evelyn just shrugged clearly distracted by the roses.

The top of the stump was smooth, not a sliver of wood jutting out, like someone had cut clean through it. A task which had to be near impossible given it had a wider girth than any tree I had ever seen. “Pretty.” I heard Evy sigh as if finally breaking from her trance, fingers still fondling the dew laden petals. “You want one?” I ask noticing the longing in her eyes but not waiting for a reply.

I had only caught onto a single stalk when their scent hit my nostrils. Such heady an aroma that I almost stumbled and landed on my ass. It was everywhere so quickly, and so thick that I wondered why we hadn’t noticed it before.

Something dripped down the corner of my lips and chin, and as I wiped it, its taste exploded in my mouth. Watery and sweet. I didn’t know my eyes had shut themselves until they flew open and I gasped.                                                                                                         

The garden. It had been restored somehow, and the same sense of strangeness yet familiarity filled me. It was no longer the smelly musty dump enveloped within the canopy of a thousand trees. But a stretch of land that seemed to go on forever. Bountiful and abundant life seemed to thrive all around me, stealing my breath away as I caught sight of a fountain. No longer the puddle of rubble but a magnificent marble masterpiece. Air seemed to shimmer around it while it thrust water in powerful bursts of effervescence. There were thousands of birds, some soaring the vast cerulean sky while some sang at the feeders.

My hand fisted and grappled at the now trimmed grass floor as an intense joy spread through me like wildfire. Everything was brighter, every tree every thicket more green and lush than before. Even the air felt too clean, too pure to be inhaling. I couldn’t wrench my eyes away even when I felt myself tear up from not blinking for so long.

“Adam Lee Jones!” Someone screamed loud enough that the edges of the world around me frayed. Maybe it was the concern or the absolute panic in their voice but I felt it pierce right through me, like a white hot iron poker. And the next thing I know, sheer terror raced through me jarring my very bones. “What is happening is he okay? What’s happening!” The voice became more familiar with every sentence as a series of convulsions shook my body.

Someone was touching me, but I could barely feel it. The touch feathering over my shoulders my face before the scream that had trapped itself in my throat finally escaped and I fell in an abyss of stillness. A calm fell over me, comforting me before I heard the distraught voice again. “Lee!” Evelyn sobbed into my neck, her tears drenching my collar and I pulled at that thread of consciousness.

My eyes fluttered open equally abruptly and I cringed even at the meagre light. Evelyn was bending above me, cradling my head at an awkward angle as her sobs racked through the both of us. I would have called out to her hadn’t my throat suddenly felt like sandpaper. It took her a moment to notice me watching her, and her eyes went wide tears still falling freely down her pale face.                                                         

She looked confused more than relieved as her eyes darted all over my face. Pain shot through my spine but I managed a simple nod upon which she gave out a whimper. She didn’t need to be told twice as she engulfed me in a hug, landing agitated kisses all over my face before she reined it in.

Her eyes had still shone with tears when she squeaked out, “I was so scared Lee. What happened?”

“They smelled like apples babe! The roses smelled like apples.”