We’ll Make Our Garden Grow: Prosery

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We’ll Make Our Garden Grow

“Marie? I thought you were dead. Is it really you?” I ask.

“It is. I was shot and left for dead. Some of the others rescued me, but I couldn’t trust anyone. I ran, changing my identity more often than my clothes.”

She glances at me. “You always did like to make an entrance,” she says, referring to my fall, “but people have noticed your questions. We’ll talk, but quickly. I’m afraid it’s not safe here now for either of us.”

The sweet scent of alyssum drifts through the open window. Marie’s vegetable garden helped all of us stay alive during the war. I remember her saying, “I’d like, too, to plant the sweet alyssum that smells like honey. And peace. I’d scatter peace seeds everywhere if I could.” With her green thumb, peace would have flourished.

Her comment suddenly registers, “Wait—what people?”

This post begins with the last line of my previous prosery post. the continuation of my rambling who-knows-where-it’s-going spy series for dVerse Prosery. The prompt line was:

“I’d like, too, to plant the sweet alyssum that smells like honey and peace.”
From Katherine Riegel, What I would like to Grow in My Garden

Leonard Bernstein conducts “Make Our Garden Grow” from his Candide.

57 thoughts on “We’ll Make Our Garden Grow: Prosery”

  1. This is absolutely riveting, and yay for continuation of spy series! 😍 You really set the mood here – I can picture the post war period and how people are on the edge. Especially love; “I’d scatter peace seeds everywhere if I could.” With her green thumb, peace would have flourished.” No doubt about that! Thank you so much for adding your voice to the prompt ❤❤

    • Thank you so much.
      Yes, I suppose just reading this, it’s not clear. In the context of the series, she’s probably really being spied upon. Then again, I have no idea where this story is going, so she could be a totally unreliable character. 😏

  6. I like your idea, putting the last line of the previous write as the first of the next. Clever, a chain of writings.
    Your line, “I thought you were dead. Is it really you?” reminded me of a LARGE number high school reunion. A bunch of us were eating lunch at the Senior Center and I notice a lady who was in my class. Before either of us left, I wanted to go tell her hello.
    She saw me and came right over, she said, “Jim H… , I had you on my deceased list.” Of a graduating class of 48, I have accounted for eight of us left. It figures.
    ..

    • Thank you so much, Derrick. I see I forgot to caption the image–doing ten things at once yesterday afternoon. 🙂 It’s Matilda Brown, In the Garden” (1915). It could almost be your garden.

  23. Ooo, love the cliff hanger ending!
    With sections like this, your spy story can go anywhere… or nowhere. Just keep us hanging on!
    Loved the music. Thank you, Merril!

  24. Pingback: Scattered Steps: Prosery – Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings

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