A Love Story, The Flower Garden Circle By Dave Thurston
A Love Story, The Flower Garden Circle
By Dave Thurston
In the middle of down town Phoenix was an empty lot. A farmer bought that lot. His name was John Lot. It wasn't a big lot but John bought the lot the remainder of his settlement. John had farmed for 35 years. He was as good farmer and knew everything there was to know about farming. He was forced to quit farming because of a back injury. His injury left him with few options. His dream was to move to city with his nest egg and develop a lot.
John knew nothing of a developing a lot in a downtown area, but he tried anyway. He tried to put in a coffee shop but the contracts were too complicated, the fees to high and process too involved. John was simple man with a dream but not a plan.
He almost gave up and moved on when he caught a second wind inspired by knowing he could farm the lot. That was what he knew and what he loved. He loved farming and he loved his only son. He wanted his son to be happy, to marry a women like John had, and to fall in love like he had. His son was named Tom. Tom had met a lovely lady named Shantel. It made John happy to see them together.
John thought, What does a city need?" What can I grow here? He concluded a city needs what anyone needs, love. How do you grow love? The best simple John could come up with was a flower garden where people could come and buy live flowers. So, John set out to grow the best flower garden any city had ever seen. He hoped that his son would come in a buy some flowers for Shantel one day. He dreamed about it. It kept him going when times got tough.
The times did get tough. The newspaper wrote about the mistake John had made planting flowers where a profitable bank should be. They made fun of him on the radio for building a flower garden where there should be a high volume gas station. Down the street was a sandwich shop that had a line out the door every day for sandwiches that are not good. Facebook became a collection of public face slaps to John for his poor farmer based limited business acumen.
John was a strong man. The worse it got for him the more he thought about his son Tom and his true love coming into his garden and falling in love. John wanted nothing more than to see his son happy and in love like he had known one day, long ago. That thought made him smile. His heart bounced him along and he cultivated his small lot, his garden, his last fight.
The garden was a circle with a path that let customers walk through and see what was growing. Every ten feet were cutters. When a customer found a flower that was perfect for them they could cut it off and take it to the counter to buy it. It was lit at night with rotating greens and calming blues, red and pink.
After hard months of working the ground, infusing better soil, and putting in a watering system the flowers started to grow. The brown dirt was covered in a green frost of sprouting plants. The sprouts grew up to the knee and then to the shoulder. I some places you couldn't see the city or hear the traffic. It was the perfect place to fall in love. It was the perfect place for Tom and Shantel. It was finally ready.
On opening day a crowd showed up. The negative publicity put The Circle Garden on the map. There was a line longer than the line for the sandwich shop. John took orders and enjoyed looking at the long line. He was happy with the sales and happy with the customers. He saw crowds, he saw profits, he saw everything except for one thing. He didn't see Tom with the love of his life. He had built this for them. He built this to see his son fall in love. He had built this to replace the love he had lost.
One day it happened. It was the perfect night. The city was quiet on a Sunday evening a cool March night in Phoenix. It was about 77 degrees. Music was playing in the garden. The foliage blocked out the business of the city. The rotating lights brought a calm blue then red, orange and green. John looked up and he saw his son Tom with Shantel.
"Hey dad. This place looks great. You've done well. I knew you would."
"It's good to see you Tom, Shantel. Welcome. Have a walk around."
Tom and Shantel walk in and to the left. "It's hard pick out the most beautiful flower. They are all so gorgeous," Tom said. "Look at this one. It says it's a Lisianthus. It's perfect. It's purple and complex yet simple, it's sophisticated and confident and it has a humble brilliance. We should get it. It reminds me of you."
Shantel said, "That was sweet of you. This is the first one we saw. We should see what else is here."
"Let's remember this one. We might need to come back," said Tom.
They walked down the path. John watched the two walking together, Tom with his arm around Shantel's waist. John was happy seeing them. It reminded him of his late wife.
"Look at this one," Tom said as the lights dimmed a cool blue to a soft pink and Crash, by The Dave Mathews Band played in the circle garden. "This is an Iris. It's long and tall. It has an earned persistence, but doesn't put you off. It has curves where that draw you in and make you want to kiss every part of it. It's graceful reaching out into the world making the difficulty of beauty look simple and achievable just by being authentic. We should get it. It reminds me of you."
"You are probably right, but we should see the other flowers," Shantel said.
"Ok here's one. I love it at first sight. One glance and I just know. Sometimes you just have to follow that feeling and not let anything hold you back. This flower is called a Gladiolus. It's strong and it looks smart. It looks like you shouldn't mess with it. It seems to know that it's prettier than all the other flowers. When I see this flower, I don't ever want to see another flower. It's beauty is satisfying. It has a selflessness that sees the best in other and hopes for the best in others even when they don't deserve it. A flower like this is dependable. You never want to let it down. You won't because this flower makes you your best. It's beautiful. It's perfect. It gets more beautiful every day. It has no equal. This flow is so gorgeous it makes my heart ache. We should get it. It reminds me of you."
"Maybe, we should really see what else is in here," Shantel said.
The lights kept changing softer and calmer. The city steamed away. John put a closed sign up. He never closed early, but today he did.
Tom and Shantel never bought any flowers, but walk went around the circle again and again. They came back every Thursday at 8:00. They walked around the circle of flowers at least three or four times. Tom's descriptions of the flowers got longer and longer and longer. The walks got longer and longer and longer. They never bought a flower, but they always came back. And they fell in love again every time.
THANKS FOR READING THAT SHORT STORY. I HOPE IT INSPIRED YOU AS IT DID ME
FOR MORE INSPIRING STORIES ON YOUR MAIL SIMPLY CLICK ON THE SUBSCRIPTION BUTTON, FOR FREE.
By Dave Thurston
John knew nothing of a developing a lot in a downtown area, but he tried anyway. He tried to put in a coffee shop but the contracts were too complicated, the fees to high and process too involved. John was simple man with a dream but not a plan.
He almost gave up and moved on when he caught a second wind inspired by knowing he could farm the lot. That was what he knew and what he loved. He loved farming and he loved his only son. He wanted his son to be happy, to marry a women like John had, and to fall in love like he had. His son was named Tom. Tom had met a lovely lady named Shantel. It made John happy to see them together.
John thought, What does a city need?" What can I grow here? He concluded a city needs what anyone needs, love. How do you grow love? The best simple John could come up with was a flower garden where people could come and buy live flowers. So, John set out to grow the best flower garden any city had ever seen. He hoped that his son would come in a buy some flowers for Shantel one day. He dreamed about it. It kept him going when times got tough.
The times did get tough. The newspaper wrote about the mistake John had made planting flowers where a profitable bank should be. They made fun of him on the radio for building a flower garden where there should be a high volume gas station. Down the street was a sandwich shop that had a line out the door every day for sandwiches that are not good. Facebook became a collection of public face slaps to John for his poor farmer based limited business acumen.
John was a strong man. The worse it got for him the more he thought about his son Tom and his true love coming into his garden and falling in love. John wanted nothing more than to see his son happy and in love like he had known one day, long ago. That thought made him smile. His heart bounced him along and he cultivated his small lot, his garden, his last fight.
The garden was a circle with a path that let customers walk through and see what was growing. Every ten feet were cutters. When a customer found a flower that was perfect for them they could cut it off and take it to the counter to buy it. It was lit at night with rotating greens and calming blues, red and pink.
After hard months of working the ground, infusing better soil, and putting in a watering system the flowers started to grow. The brown dirt was covered in a green frost of sprouting plants. The sprouts grew up to the knee and then to the shoulder. I some places you couldn't see the city or hear the traffic. It was the perfect place to fall in love. It was the perfect place for Tom and Shantel. It was finally ready.
On opening day a crowd showed up. The negative publicity put The Circle Garden on the map. There was a line longer than the line for the sandwich shop. John took orders and enjoyed looking at the long line. He was happy with the sales and happy with the customers. He saw crowds, he saw profits, he saw everything except for one thing. He didn't see Tom with the love of his life. He had built this for them. He built this to see his son fall in love. He had built this to replace the love he had lost.
One day it happened. It was the perfect night. The city was quiet on a Sunday evening a cool March night in Phoenix. It was about 77 degrees. Music was playing in the garden. The foliage blocked out the business of the city. The rotating lights brought a calm blue then red, orange and green. John looked up and he saw his son Tom with Shantel.
"Hey dad. This place looks great. You've done well. I knew you would."
"It's good to see you Tom, Shantel. Welcome. Have a walk around."
Tom and Shantel walk in and to the left. "It's hard pick out the most beautiful flower. They are all so gorgeous," Tom said. "Look at this one. It says it's a Lisianthus. It's perfect. It's purple and complex yet simple, it's sophisticated and confident and it has a humble brilliance. We should get it. It reminds me of you."
Shantel said, "That was sweet of you. This is the first one we saw. We should see what else is here."
"Let's remember this one. We might need to come back," said Tom.
They walked down the path. John watched the two walking together, Tom with his arm around Shantel's waist. John was happy seeing them. It reminded him of his late wife.
"Look at this one," Tom said as the lights dimmed a cool blue to a soft pink and Crash, by The Dave Mathews Band played in the circle garden. "This is an Iris. It's long and tall. It has an earned persistence, but doesn't put you off. It has curves where that draw you in and make you want to kiss every part of it. It's graceful reaching out into the world making the difficulty of beauty look simple and achievable just by being authentic. We should get it. It reminds me of you."
"You are probably right, but we should see the other flowers," Shantel said.
"Ok here's one. I love it at first sight. One glance and I just know. Sometimes you just have to follow that feeling and not let anything hold you back. This flower is called a Gladiolus. It's strong and it looks smart. It looks like you shouldn't mess with it. It seems to know that it's prettier than all the other flowers. When I see this flower, I don't ever want to see another flower. It's beauty is satisfying. It has a selflessness that sees the best in other and hopes for the best in others even when they don't deserve it. A flower like this is dependable. You never want to let it down. You won't because this flower makes you your best. It's beautiful. It's perfect. It gets more beautiful every day. It has no equal. This flow is so gorgeous it makes my heart ache. We should get it. It reminds me of you."
"Maybe, we should really see what else is in here," Shantel said.
The lights kept changing softer and calmer. The city steamed away. John put a closed sign up. He never closed early, but today he did.
Tom and Shantel never bought any flowers, but walk went around the circle again and again. They came back every Thursday at 8:00. They walked around the circle of flowers at least three or four times. Tom's descriptions of the flowers got longer and longer and longer. The walks got longer and longer and longer. They never bought a flower, but they always came back. And they fell in love again every time.
THANKS FOR READING THAT SHORT STORY. I HOPE IT INSPIRED YOU AS IT DID ME
FOR MORE INSPIRING STORIES ON YOUR MAIL SIMPLY CLICK ON THE SUBSCRIPTION BUTTON, FOR FREE.
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