Information
Jardin has a minion!
Printemps the Glade Bird
Printemps the Glade Bird
Jardin
Legacy Name: Jardin
The Glade Jollin
Owner: usagi
Age: 12 years, 1 month, 1 week
Born: February 18th, 2012
Adopted: 12 years, 1 month, 1 week ago
Adopted: February 18th, 2012
Statistics
- Level: 255
- Strength: 67
- Defense: 36
- Speed: 628
- Health: 53
- HP: 53/53
- Intelligence: 72
- Books Read: 71
- Food Eaten: 0
- Job: Pruner
"Her favorite foods were bamboo shoots." His voice was barely audible.
For a moment, his eyes glazed over, tears flowing down his dirty face as he snapped out of the typical wink and dazzle spin he put on his laborious life of planting seeds. It wasn't easy to define this brief change of emotion. Maybe one could equate it to the musings of men far past their quota of sheer madness, there remained no shred of sanity to hold onto. But Jardin wasn't crazy. He was just highly motivated. Besides, crazy people scared off their neighbors, but no one could say a bad word about him. Then again, no one could say anything particularly convincing about his past either, so that wasn't very encouraging. If they had seen him whispering his deepest secrets to the air directly above the soil where he had chosen to plant lilies, they would perhaps think something more, but since when do people think of others if they are not somehow entangled personally themselves? He first met her on a warm afternoon in the forest whilst searching for new plants to draw in his sketchbook. The wind was still like it was waiting for his response before proceeding onwards toward its duties. She was holding some seeds, pensively staring at the clearing out east. Trying to introduce himself, Jardin was silenced with, "Dialogue ruins things," and so he could only describe her. He wrote pages about her long black tresses or tribal markings, but nothing would do her justice. There are no words for certain patterns or beauties. Everything became lost in translation and every word he tried using just ended up making him feel more of an incompetent idiot. They would meet each day, she'd plant seeds, and he'd draw the results. There would be fits of uncontrollable giggling, rolling around in the grasses, calling out to furry critters who were far more frightened than curious, but most of all, there would be running.Maybe someday ...
.. he would understand why they ran themselves into a frenzy each time. Maybe it was the sight of the trees growing larger as if they were running towards you to embrace you. Maybe it was the touch of the wind gusts. Maybe it was the sound of their footsteps creating an echo of birds shrieking as they flew towards the sun for salvation. Jardin didn't know what it was. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was everything. Everything that could have made a difference that day. It had taken him a month before he figured out her favorite food consisted of bamboo shoots. It would have taken him all of ten seconds had he asked her about it, but maybe there was something in observation that couldn't dare to be asked with a simple, straight-forward question. At least he hoped there was .. for her sake at least. It had taken one day. Only one day. He arrived at the expanding periphery of their garden, which marked their daily faithful meeting spot for the past three odd months. Except there was no periphery nor garden. Everything was perfectly razed to the ground. He let out a piercing wail that should have sent every single living creature within a five mile radius running in the opposite direction had there been a forest, a meadow, a garden, or any natural habitat to sustain them. Someone had taken the executive decision to wipe someone's entire home from existence and for what? Jardin fixated his eyes on a sign with a logo he didn't recognize, certainly just one out of dozens of similar looking logos, and the words "COMING SOON" in bright red ink. Everything was eerily neat. Mother nature would have left chaos had she tossed her flames about, leaving scorched twigs, like broken bones, laying around in a distorted fashion. A stranger's methodical work starkly showed in every direction he peered at. It was simple. There was simply nothing. A clean slate for a savvy business owner he'd never have the (dis)honor of meeting face to face or recanting his story and his subsequent heartache to. Her life, and in turn his life, had been taken away by an utterly complete stranger who had zero knowledge of their existence. It all seemed so random and senseless. Where was she now? Where would she live now? Better yet, did she have time to run away, lifting the heels of her feet fast enough to avoid the annihilation? He closed his eyes and let his knees hit the ground as he let his mind run away with its own thoughts as if they were trying to outrun the past. Everyone knows you can't outrun it no matter how hard you try. His ears, save for the tinnitus and occasional gusts of wind, registered nothing, and for a while, Jardin felt like he was a part of the barren earth.His head fell down and his fists unclenched as he plummeted face first into the soil. Defeat has never boasted of being a pretty sight, but hope's an impossibly difficult opponent to defeat even if she seems incognito. There was a little bit of pecking around him. A little bit more. And then a chirp. Jardin's eyes opened just far enough to witness a tiny green bird, deprived of any other resting spot, perch on the "COMING SOON" sign and use its beak to cradle an even tinier dark seed before devouring it. Had that bird not appeared, Jardin may have laid there until the dirt absorbed him. He marveled at the seeming irony of this bird and of the "COMING SOON" sign. Jardin dragged his head up and looked at the sun. The plants would have been budding now, signaling the coming of spring. The bird chirped a few notes and flew down to sit on his head and it hit him. The notion. The perfect idea. There could still be a spring. Not here, but somewhere out there. If he continued to plant, he could continue to hope. He wiped the tears from his eyes, his glittering happy eyes. Maybe she's out there doing exactly the same thing, and maybe one day ...
She'll come back to me.
credits:
profile template by User not found: ulrich. proofreading thanks to Lirikai. retained original story of spotlight win, layout unfortunately broken since then.Pet Treasure
Garden Dirt
Empty Watering Can
Gardening Cultivator
Gardening Trowel
Gardening Mini-Hoe
Hand-Made Seed Sketch Journal
Budding Periwinkle Seed
Bundle of Gardenia Seeds
Bundle of Hibiscus Seeds
Bundle of Buttercup Seeds
Flowering Sweet Pea Seeds
Bag of Plumeria Seeds
Heirloom Tulip Seeds
Packet of Lily Seeds
Flowering Lily Seed
Bag of Hydrangea Seeds
Heirloom Calla Lily Seeds
Bunch of Dandelion Seeds
Bundle of Forget-Me-Not Seeds
Bundle of Zinnia Seeds
Bag of Snowdrop Seeds
Packet of Wisteria Seeds
Heirloom Bearded Iris Seeds
Bundle of Morning Glory Seeds
Bag of Rose Seeds
Packet of Daisy Seeds
Bundle of Tulip Seeds
Heirloom Hyacinth Seeds
Flowering Sweet William Seeds
Bluebeary Seed
Magical Cherry Seed
Magical Radish Seed
Grumpy Seedy Sprout
Melix Insta Seed
Pumpkin Seeds
Disclower Seed
Ikunox Seed
Pumpple Seed
Simple Seed
Thrilled Seedy Sprout
Blue Lovely Seed Pod
Egg Seed
Strange Potato Seed
Tainted Pear Seed
Magnificent Peach Pit
Red Hibiscus Seed
Magma Seeds
Tainted Sunflower Seeds
Magical Orange Seed
Magical Lilly Seed
Magical Corn Kernel
White Hibiscus Seed
Yellow Lovely Seed Pod
Artichoke Seed
Carrot Seed
Magical Watermelon Seeds
Seeds of Winter Solstice
Purple Lovely Seed Pod
Banana Seeds
Seedling
Dancing Damsel Orchid Seed
Gloomy Seedy Sprout
Blue Hibiscus Seed
Lichen Seeds
Tiny Seed
Yellow Hibiscus Seed
Coral Thistle Seed
Eager Seed
Lone Pumpkin Seeds
Magical Grape Seeds
Black Hibiscus Seed
Pitcher Seed
Tangle Seed
Pink Lovely Seed Pod
Lilac Hibiscus Seed
Lumpy Green Pumpkin Seed
Magical Banana Seed
Stinging Aster Seed
Pink Hibiscus Seed
Red Tomato Seeds
Strange Banana Seed
Cheerful Seedy Sprout
Yellow Tomato Seeds
Fat Pumpkin Seed
Long Root Seed
Odd Cotton Seeds
Angry Seedy Pod
Moss Seeds
Phallaticus Seed
EZGrow Pumpkin Seeds
Orange Lovely Seed Pod
Flack Seed
Magical Lemon Seed
Flour Seed
Ugly Hibiscus Seed
Magical Broccoli Seed
Night Blooming Drooplebud Seed