Oh, no, this can’t be happening. I’m starting to grow. Not here! Anywhere but here. Well, not anywhere. I’m supposed to be growing next to Sela, maybe with SK as our next-door neighbor, but not here in this miserable excuse of a crack. Man, I just can’t catch a break. Then, I remember an argument I’d had with SK just a day or two before he’d been washed away.
“I don’t believe in accidents, Seedmore. I really don’t.”
“Well, these last few days must have blown that belief out of your head by now.”
“No, not really. You see, in a no-accident Universe, we’re all here for a purpose, and our job is to make the most of each and every situation we find ourselves in, including the unexpected ones, like the one we find ourselves in right now.”
Could SK have been right? Could there be some greater purpose to all this? After all, despite everything, I am still alive. Not only alive but also growing. Yeah, growing, but look where I’m growing. How can I possibly fulfill my greater purpose here in this crack? SK was a cool dude, but he didn’t know what he was talking about. Or did he?
I remember SK’s platitude that made me the angriest: “All is in Divine Order, so surrender to what is.” What if I did just that? What if I tried surrendering to this situation, at least for a couple of days, while at the same time trying to be the best seed I could be, growing in a crevice of a crack? I mean, what harm could come from it? After all, there’s no one else around to notice if I fail, so what do I have to lose?
A couple of days turn into a couple of weeks, and before I know it, I find I’m squeezing myself above the crack into the brightness and warmth of spring. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but life hasn’t been so bad these last few weeks. Oh, there’s the occasional close call from being almost squashed by a passing pedestrian, but, well, hey, you know what they say. “That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Oh, God, another one of SK’s aphorisms. Man, I miss that seed.
Uh-oh, here comes that kid again.
The gardener’s kid jogs down the walkway on his way to the garden, when he suddenly stops and bends down to me. His face is gigantic and his voice thunderous. “Daddy, Daddy. Look at this one. It looks like some of the plants in the garden.”
I feel the tremor of the ground as the gardener pauses in his weeding and walks over to admire his son’s astute observation. “Some people call seeds that take root in unusual places like that ‘volunteers’. Sometimes you’ll find a seed growing from the previous year’s plants, or simply find one growing in unexpected places. I think of them more like orphans.”
“Like me, Dad?”
“Well, like you and me. Remember, I was raised in an ‘unexpected place’, as well.”
The kid bends down close to me again. “But what if someone steps on it? We gotta help it, Dad.”
What’s he talking about, helping me? I’ve grown pretty comfortable where I am.
“Well, I don’t know if we can dig down to get enough of the root system...”
Exactly my point. I feel a nervous twitch in my roots just thinking about it.
“I can, Dad. Just like you saved me, I’m going to save this plant.”
“Well, I suppose it’s worth a shot. Let’s go get you some smaller digging utensils from the kitchen.”
For the life of me, I can’t think of any of SK’s sayings that will help me in this situation, so I decide to pray for another thunderstorm, anything that will keep the two gardeners from digging me up. Of course, it remains a bright and sunny day. My luck is holding.
Holy Cow! Here they come. Boy, those utensils from the kitchen look mighty big and sharp. Hey kid, don’t mess with the roots. Watch out there. Really, this isn’t a good idea, my boy. I’ve gotten used to this spot.
But the kid keeps working on the soil around me, and I have to admit, he’s much more careful than I’d expected him to be. Suddenly, I feel the ground below me loosen, and the next thing I know, I’m moving.
Wait a minute. Where are you taking me? Oh, shit. Here I go again. All is in Divine Order...all is in Divine Order...surrender, surrender.
Can it be? Is that what I think it is? It is. It’s the garden. He’s taking me to the garden. Oh, my God, SK was right. There really are no accidents, just a whole lot of mystery. But, wait a minute. Where are you planting me? Not here. Where’s my Sela? That’s not Sela. I’m supposed to be with Sela, remember?
I look around and see SK the next row over.
“Hey, SK. It’s me, Seedmore. Have you seen Sela?”
“Well, I’ll be. It is you. Welcome to paradise. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen you again.”
“It’ll be paradise as soon as I find Sela.”
“Gosh, I don’t know how to break it to you, but I don’t think Sela made it. I’ve been here since the rain carried me out of the crack and deposited me here, but I haven’t seen Sela at all. I’m so sorry, Seedmore. I know you and she were close.”
“Yeah, we were soulmates. At least I thought we were.” No Sela? How can I be expected to go on with my life without my soulmate? The thought of living without Sela is devastating to me, but I don’t know what I can do about it. It’s beginning to feel more like Divine Discontent taking over again. How am I supposed to give up on a dream that I’ve had...well, forever?
I look around at the other tomato seedlings. Most of them are a good bit taller than me, a product of the rich garden loam they’ve been planted in, except the one closest to me, who is more or less my same size. As I’m getting familiar with my surroundings, I hear a melody. At first, I think it’s angels singing to me, then I realize the gardener has turned on his transistor radio.
As I listen to the words of the song, I realize God does, indeed, work in mysterious ways, for the lyrics speak directly to me: “If you can’t be with the one you love, honey, love the one you’re with.” Sounds like another one of SK’s platitudes. When you really love another, it’s just not that easy to let go and start loving someone else. I’m not so sure I’m ready to give up my dreams of a life with Sela. Still, life goes on, so I may as well at least get to know the other plants that I am destined to spend the season with.
I turn to the small seedling next to me.
“Hello there. My name is Seedmore, what’s yours?”
There’s a long pause before my neighbor answers me.
“I didn’t think you recognized me, Seedmore, but that’s okay. I didn’t recognize you at first either. I’m Sela.”
“Oh, my God, how can that be? You were one of the most robust seeds of the pack. What happened?”
“Like you, I also suffered many hardships after being thrown from the pack. It was a difficult journey, but you know what they say...“
As we turn our leaves towards the sun, we answer at the same time, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” I guess we’ve both been hanging out with SK too long. Foster Flat is a fantastic place to live if you don’t mind the twists and turns of its mountain magic.
BEARFOOTING
May is a month of unpredictable weather in the North Carolina mountains, as are the other eleven months of the year, so it's not all that surprising that mama bear and her cub were caught by the late afternoon thunderstorm on the wrong side of the river from their customary shelter. Mama bear, with her cub riding on her back, was only a third of the way across the river when the bottom fell out. Within moments, the water around them transformed from a placid flow to a raging river of angry, dirty water that swept the cub from her back. Alarmed, mama bear swam after her cub, fighting to stay afloat until a tree limb struck her from behind, almost knocking her unconscious. She found herself fighting for her own life as she caught glimpses of her cub floating downstream, clinging to another piece of debris, his plaintive cries ripping at her heart.
LACY TURNER AND HER husband, Nick, were enjoying the last day of their mountain getaway before returning to the normal routine of their lives back in civilization. As Lacy crawled out of their two-person tent, she stood up a
nd stretched, feeling her stiff back muscles complain pleasantly with the movement. She watched the sun slowly ascend above the mountain peaks as she breathed in the crisp morning air. It had been quite a night, with so much wind and rain she'd been fearful they'd be blown away inside their tent. Luckily, Nick had done a more than adequate job staking down the tent, as well as locating it far enough from the stream, which had grown into a raging river in a matter of minutes.
She turned her attention towards the river. It had crested during the night and was slowly returning to its natural state. That's when she noticed the small black package that had been delivered on her doorstep. At first, she thought it might be another camper's furry jacket, until it moved.
“Oh, my God,” Lacy said as she realized the object was alive. She tapped on the top of the tent. “Nick, wake up. We have a visitor,” she said, before running down to get a better look at the new arrival.
“Honey, I know how much of an animal lover you are. It’s one of the things I find most endearing about you,” Nick said, trying once again to talk some sense into his wife. “But we’re not equipped to nurse a bear cub back to health.”
“But we can’t just leave the poor thing out here alone,” Lacy pleaded.
“You’re not listening to me,” Nick replied, then, realizing how argumentative that sounded, added, “Dear, there’s a very well run nature science center back in Asheville that will be able to take much better care of him than we can. It’s right on the way home, or at least not much out of our way.”
Lacy glanced down at the bedraggled little bear that had hardly moved since she first found him. “Her,” Lacy said.
“What?”
“I think it’s a female,” Lacy replied.
“Whatever.” Nick could feel himself growing impatient, so he took a deep breath.
“What will happen to her after that?” she asked.
“They’ll nurse him...I mean her back to health and then release her to the wild, or they’ll give her a home at the center. In either case, she’ll have a much better life there than she would with us.”
Lacy slowly nodded. “I guess you’re right,” she finally conceded. “It’s just that she’s so cute.”
Cute now, Nick thought, but just wait a few months. By the end of the summer, she'll be bigger than our Mastiff back home. What a pair that would be. Instead, he said, "I know, and that's why we want to be sure to get her to the nature center as soon as possible. If you'll start breaking down our campsite, I'll load her in the back of the pickup. Once we're in cellphone coverage again, I'll call and let them know we're bringing her in."
THERE'S A MYTH THAT circulates among the longtime residents of Foster Flat that there's an energy—some say magical, others prefer spiritual,but all agree it's a strange energy—that attracts just the right people, who are pulled like a magnet to the small mountain town. Could it have been that same energy that awoke our small bear cub just outside the Foster Flat town limits while the Turners stopped to get a bite to eat and to fill up with gas? In any case, she woke to a myriad of strange odors, including the delectable scents of food that had her stomach growling and her mouth salivating from hunger.
She stood up in the bed of the pickup truck and stuck her nose in the air to get a better sense of the direction the food aromas were coming from. Having made the determination, she scurried out of the back of the truck and started towards the rear of the diner. As she did so, she picked up a second scent that she'd smelled only once or twice before. Humans! Her mother had warned her of the danger. Come to think of it, where was her mother? She stuck her nose in the air again and took in a long inhalation. Nothing. Not the slightest whiff of her scent. Then she recalled the storm of the previous evening, clinging tightly to her back as they crossed the river, then suddenly being swept away from her. The rest became foggy and muddled until waking a few minutes ago. I’ll have to go look for her...right after I get a little something to eat, she thought, as she continued to the rear of the diner where the food smells appeared strongest.
Her head and half her body were well inside the metal trash can when she heard the screeching of a door in desperate need of oiling, followed a second later by the screaming of one of the short order cooks.
“Get the hell out of my trash,” Elbert Schroder shouted, as she grabbed the broom next to the door reserved for just such a purpose. “This is the third time this month I’ve had to clean up after you varmints, and I have had it with you.”
Adrenalin pumped through the bear cub’s body as she started to pull herself out of the trash, lost her balance and fell to the pavement with trash cascading all around her.
Time to leave, she thought as she saw the big man with a stick in his hand advancing on her. She ran in the other direction, still smacking her lips, enjoying the taste of the discarded cinnamon rolls. She continued running, feeling better for having at least partially filled her stomach, and enjoying the freedom of being alive, despite being on her own. She didn’t slow to a walk until she was well inside the town limit of Foster Flat.
The bear cub meandered through the neighborhood outside Foster Flat proper, visiting two or three trash cans along the way. While she remembered her mother warning her to stay away from anywhere that the human scent was strong, the lesson didn't make much sense to her at the moment. After all, where else could you find such delectable food so readily available? No need to climb a tree for the berries, or spend all that time trying to corner a fish in the stream. All you had to do was flip off the lid of the containers that were abundantly available to discover what treats awaited inside. By the time she'd made it through the outskirts of the town, her stomach was full and it felt like the perfect time to take a nap. She found an outcropping of pine trees between two of the houses with a thick layer of needles that made a most comfortable bed. Despite the many human odors all around, she was asleep within minutes.
By the time she awoke several hours later, the sun had set and a nearly full moon had risen, with beams of light filtering through the trees above. At first, the cub was disoriented and thought she was back in the lair that had been her and her mother's home, but then remembered the cave's floor wasn't nearly as soft as the one beneath her now. But that wasn't the only hint that alerted her to her new environment. Her mother was absent, not only her physical presence but also her smell. The rush of memory cascaded over the cub. She was on her own in a strange place, surrounded by the one smell her mother had warned her to stay away from. She felt like turning over and falling back to sleep, but after a minute or two, her stomach once more alerted her to its increasingly empty nature. Time to go find some more of those delectable food cans that the humans put out so conveniently.
It didn’t take long to fill her stomach once again, this time without any interruption. Apparently, the best time to scavenge for food was at night when humans were safely behind their closed and locked doors. Safe for them, and more importantly, she was safe from them as well. So, now what? She was now well rested and well fed. It must be time to go exploring. Maybe she’d be lucky and find she wasn’t as far away from home as she’d originally thought. Maybe all those strange smells were masking her ability to detect the smells of her home.
As she left the safety of the pine trees, she remembered another lesson from her mother. They'd come upon a trail with a very hard surface where her mother stopped and lifted her nose in the air, but she'd been woolgathering and hadn't paid much attention, continuing to walk across to the other side. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge object moving at an incredible speed was upon her, followed a second later by a blast of noise that threatened to burst her eardrums. She leaped back just in time to avoid being smashed into roadkill. She turned to her mom for comfort, but instead received a thrashing, the likes of which she'd never experienced from her. The lesson was obvious. Such trails were dangerous and best avoided, which she did now.
Instead, she strolled along the side of the road, keeping a good six feet between her and th
e pavement until she no longer had a choice because there wasn't anything but pavement as she entered into Foster Flat proper. Strolling down the street, she was surrounded by an assortment of smells, many of which she didn't recognize. Then suddenly, up ahead she saw a form that set her heart to racing—a large black bear standing on all fours staring back at her. Could it be her mother? It certainly was the right size. As she took a few steps forward, she sniffed the air again but couldn't detect anything like her mother, nor anything like a bear. Maybe the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, she thought, but then realized there really wasn't even the slightest of breezes. The buildings seemed to be blocking it.
She continued to walk cautiously towards the bear when she noticed, several yards farther up the road, another form, this one a bear standing on its hind legs. As she approached the first bear, she stopped to sniff at it, but still, even this close, couldn’t detect any familiar scent. Growing more confused by the minute, the bear cub strolled on to the second bear, circling around it, ready to jump out of the way if it tried to attack her, but she needn’t have worried. Both bears seemed frozen in place. She came within a few inches of the second bear’s hind legs and sniffed again. Still nothing. That’s when she spied a third form farther up the road. This bear was sitting on its haunches with a second smaller bear about her own size sitting in front of the larger bear. A mother and her cub, just like her and her mother. Surely they could help her.
She trotted towards them, continuing to sniff the air as she went. Though she still couldn’t detect any bear smells, she did begin to pick up the subtle odors that reminded her of her home. As she drew near, she noticed several sprigs of dry grass and a small pile of leaves upon which the two bears rested. The smells of home made his heart ache even more for her mother. At the same time, it was nice to find this tiny fragment of home in this strange land. She curled up next to the still bear cub and fell asleep.
Fantastic Fables of Foster Flat Volume Two Page 12
