fiction
Killing the
Thorn
By Susie Finkbeiner
The man looked out at his garden . The fruit of his labor blossomed with juice and seed and brilliant colors . Reds and oranges . Greens and yellows . He took great delight in the growth , the promise of harvest .
Each morning he would go outside to walk around his garden . To sprinkle water over it . To pull weeds out . The early sunshine would warm his face , delight him in his work .
It is good work , he thought , feeling the soil in his hands . The smell of the planting . The taste of the produce . The sound of the birds . Yes . This is good work .
One day he noticed a new kind of plant . A plant he had not sown . It had a
Artwork by Ryan Hanberry sinister look . A dark , twisting appearance . He didn ’ t know what it was . He ignored it , walking away , hoping it would grow , benign . That it would do no harm .
But the sinister plant continued to grow . Each day it grew larger , spreading out over more and more of the garden . The man was frustrated , afraid for his garden . But he didn ’ t know what to do . So he did nothing . Simply allowed the fruitless plant to move further and further throughout his garden .
“ You know what you got there ,” a friend said one day . “ You got yourself a thorn bush .” “ Yeah . I wondered ,” the man said . “ What are you going to do about it ?” “ I don ’ t know . There doesn ’ t seem to be much I can do .” “ Well , that thing ’ s going to kill off your garden .” He squatted down , inspecting the garden . “ Looks like it already took over some . Your squash is just about squeezed out .” “ But there ’ s nothing I can do .” “ Alright ,” his friend shook his head .
“ I guess that ’ s your choice .” His friend walked away , leaving the man to witness the destruction of his own garden .
By the end of the season , right at harvest , the man realized that his friend had been right . His garden had been destroyed .
He left it all in the ground . Turned his back on it and despaired . He believed there was nothing to be done .
Years later he sold the land . A family wanted to take it over . The family made it their home . They loved it there . Only one thing did they hate . The thorny wasteland .
“ We should have a garden ,” the mother said . “ Right there , where the thorns are .”
“ You think it could be a good garden ?” the father asked . “ Yes . But only if we can get rid of the thorns .” And so the family went to the field . They bore axes and shovels . They broke off the branches , protective gloves on their hands . Putting the thorn branches into a pile , they realized how large the problem was .
“ Is the job done now , father ?” one of the children asked . “ Can we plant our vegetables ?”
“ Not yet ,” the father said . “ The threat is not gone .” “ Where is the threat ?” another child asked . “ Under the ground . Where you cannot see .” The father got a shovel . He
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