To the Root of It

Beatrice sighed as she surveyed her backyard. Weeds overran every corner. She still couldn’t believe that what was once completely dead last fall, had grown into a jungle during winter. Yet, she should have known better. Just because the grass was dead, didn’t mean the weeds were. If only she had taken care of this before it had started raining. She had planned to lay down plastic and cover it with wood chips. Now she was paying the price.

It wasn’t the grass-like weeds that were a problem. In fact, most of those were already dead from the Round-Up she had sprayed two nights ago. They weren’t the issue. The trouble was the bush weeds. Thick stems, deep roots and a resistance to poison, they swayed in the morning breeze, taunting her to give it her best shot.

Pointing the hose at the base of the nearest bush, Beatrice turned the nozzle on and sprayed the ground. She held it there for several minutes. Turning off the hose, she dropped it and grabbed the shovel.

Sticking it in at the base, she pushed down with a foot. It slid in slightly; the hard ground had barely been loosened by the watering. She picked up her foot and stomped down with all her might. The shovel head slid all the way in. Pushing down on the handle, the bush started to rise as roots were exposed. With a whoosh, the bush fell on its side and in its roots was a small green globe.

“Huh?” Beatrice stared down at the unnatural ball. “What in the-”

It started glowing and pulsing with light. She stepped back and held the shovel in front of her as a weapon. The tempo of the light increased and when it reached its peak, the globe exploded. The green light escaped and started flying around.

Afraid of the unknown, Beatrice swung the shovel and whacked the light. The glow dimmed and it spiraled down, hitting the ground. It flickered for a moment and then she heard a high-pitched voice issue forth.

“What’dya do that for? You big oaf!”

“Uh,” stammered Beatrice. Stunned that she had hit something intelligent, she mumbled, “Sorry.”

“Oh, you will be! This is all your fault!” The light steadied and flew up toward Beatrice’s face.

Beatrice started to back away, but stopped when it came into focus. Her eyes widened as she saw that it was a tiny man with wings. He had on green pants and was surrounded by the green glow. “You’re a fairy!”

“Not fairy. Faerie!” He glared at Beatrice, shaking his finger at her as his wings fluttered to keep him air-borne. “You humans are so stupid! You don’t take care of nature and when nature tries to help, you ignore it.”

“I – I don’t understand.” Confusion splayed across Beatrice’s face.

The faerie sighed. “No, of course not.” He pointed to the yard. “When you moved in, the lawn was already dead, but did you do anything about it? No! And then the rains came and weeds sprung up. I tried to stop them, but got tangled in their roots. I couldn’t get free to do my work. I was waiting for you to come out here and dig them up, but you never did. You know, it’s been three weeks since it stopped raining!”

“Sorry.” Beatrice looked down at the ground, ashamed at how lazy she was.

“You certainly are.” He flew up and landed on her head. “You are one sorry excuse for a human.” He rapped his knuckles down on her skull. “And you are going to fix it.”

“Yes. That’s why I’m out here.” Beatrice stood a bit taller, feeling motivated like she had never been before.

“Good. I’ll guide you. My name’s Rutensylyn. Call me Root.”

“I’m Beatrice. Nice to meet-”

Root tugged on some hair on the left side of Beatrice’s head. “Nuff chatter. Over there is the largest concentration of these bushes – right around the air conditioning unit.”

“You know what an air conditioning unit is?” She asked, surprised.

“Uh, yeah. I live in the real world, though maybe you don’t.” He snorted. “Get your butt over there and battle those beasties!”

Grinning, Beatrice strode over to the air conditioning unit and started digging up the bushes that surrounded it.

When all was said and done, the weeds had been pulled, the weed block had been laid and the wood chips had been layered over it.

Late in the afternoon, Beatrice was grateful that she had purchase pre-made planter boxes. Setting those up around her yard was relatively painless, except when Root dropped one on her foot. Trying not to curse, she grimaced as she spread the fertilized soil in the boxes.

Root felt bad so he volunteered to spread the seeds. Lounging in the shade, Beatrice was surprised at how good she felt. Not so surprising was how tired her body was. She watched as Root darted here and there, dropping the seeds into the soil.

“Ready?” he asked when he came back to where she sat.

She raised an eyebrow. “Ready for what?”

“For this!” Root raised his arms and fireworks shot out of his fingers. Explosions rained dazzling sparkles over the planter boxes. In seconds, seedlings burst out from the soil. The plants grew at a startling rate and flowers bloomed forth from every bud.

“Wow,” was all she could manage. She got up and went to the nearest flower bed. Breathing in deep, the sweet perfume filled her senses. She turned to Root, who had a wide grin on his face. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you.” He bowed. “Now can you see what you’ve been missing?”

“Yes, I do. I’ve never had a flower garden before. I don’t know why.” She paused, her nose tingling. She scratched it, but it continued until a loud sneeze erupted. Her eyes watered as she sneezed again. Running into the house, she called back to Root, “Now I remember why!”


(997 words)