Overgrown Vines

The sun over the horizon was emerging out of its long nap. Its rays reached the stone floors of the garden. I was slacking off my chores as usual. I had to water the plants in the garden. My siblings had already done their chores and were playing in the playground right next to the mansion.

The blue orchids that my grandmother had planted was wilting, it had not been watered for days. The overgrown mango tree’s leaves were changing from bright green to a pale brown colour. Everything in the garden looked so dead to me.

I was concentrating on not killing the plants with the water hose from which water was flowing out with great pressure. Meanwhile, the grape vines that had outgrown and reached the stone walls caught my attention. It was the only plant that was green and healthy in the entire garden. It stood out so well that I took some time gazing at the contrast created by the healthy green grape vines.

I went towards the water tap to close it and prevent myself from damaging any plants with the water hose. I walked toward the overgrown grape vines and reached to take a grape from the vines. When I ate it, it was ripe and sweet. I had never tasted a grape with a taste as good as that one. That taste cannot just be described by simple words.

In no time, I took a liking to the grape vines and decided to explore where it came from. I followed the mossy trail created by the vines and it led to a stone block on the floor. The vines started from the stone block that was decorated with symmetrical patterns that looked very hard to carve. I cleared out the green moss on the stone blocks nearby and to my surprise, I found a knob on one of the stone blocks. I figured out it was a trapdoor as I studied about ancient trapdoors used by the Greek. It was exactly like the pictures in my History textbook.

My curiosity tingled me, and I found myself opening the trapdoor in no time. It was heavy and looked like it had not been opened in centuries. I somehow managed to open the heavy trapdoor and discovered a staircase leading down. The stairs were made of solid concrete and there were lamps bright enough to barely see the side of the stone walls. I felt like I was in one of those adventure movies which I craved to be in.

The staircase led to a brightly illuminated garden with bright white torchlights. It was a breathtaking scene. To my left, there was a small waterfall with banks covered in leaf green shrubs. I could hear the sound of clashing water on the crystal-clear surface of the calm water. The ripples created by the waterfall on the calm pond made a pattern which was mesmerizing.

To the right, there was a huge tree with bright evergreen leaves. Its trunk was humungous and had patterns created by the thick bark of the trunk. From the trunk, millions of branches split and from those branches, hung every type of fruit that I could think of. I felt like I was in heaven; to see such miraculous things in such a sudden way.

In front of me, stood a wooden bench that looked like it had survived a hurricane. It was in very bad condition, but it looked nice as it fit in with rest of the scenery which resembled time with the old objects, miracles by the huge evergreen tree, and peace and beauty by the mesmerizing calm waterfall.

Behind the wooden bench was the overgrown vines that I had seen up in the garden above. They started from the brown dirt and had spread all over the ground. I did not realize that I had been walking on the vines the entire time. The grape vines were truly a miracle.

I decided to go back up to the garden and when I reached the garden, I realized that I had spent too much time gazing at the garden underneath. I was prepared for the harsh scolding from my grandmother looking at the unwatered wilting plants, but seeing the overgrown vines put a smile on my face reminding me of the miraculous discovery I had made.