One Step At A Time

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tower

She often asked herself why many times. Why was life so hard? Why was she alone? Why had her father left her this rooftop garden to care for? Why on earth had he built it so high? Every single day she had to climb three hundred and sixty five steps to keep that flower garden alive.

One day it dawned on her that maybe her father was wise in not explaining why he had made life hard. Maybe he had protected her from the international war that was raging around her by keeping her alone. The assignment of caring for that rooftop garden gave her a purpose and kept her thoughts busy. The long winding steep steps up to that garden had kept her fit and healthy. “One step at a time, one day at a time, one year at a time” he had often said.

Now that she was just about to turn three hundred and eighty years old she realized the war was long since over. The violence had ended. The damage that had been done had disappeared and green grass and flowers were flourishing. There were birds singing in the air. Then she heard a sound she had not heard for many decades – laughter. She peered over the roof-top and could see a group of people walking in her direction.

“Hey there! Are you Maisy Riley?”

Maisy was so surprised to hear her name spoken by one of these strangers. Fear rose within her and she found herself unable to respond or to retreat into her little home. She remained rooted to the spot with her knees shaking.

“It’s alright Maisy. The war is all over. You are one of the survivors. Only the peace-loving have survived. It’s safe now. Life will be so much better from now on.”

Maisy had not received a hug from anyone in over three hundred and fifty years. Now she received twenty three huge bear-hugs – one from each other survivor in the group that had come in search for her.

 

https://helenevaillant.com/2019/05/14/what-do-you-see-may-14-2019/

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14 thoughts on “One Step At A Time”

  3. Amazing story. I love how you structured the theme and brought it to a fabulous outcome.

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    1. I had an idea in my head…I remember some years ago someone told me a story about a man who was asked to push a huge boulder. Everyday he tried and he could not move it an inch. He was told to keep on trying and not to give up. After a long time he collapsed in tears feeling the task was impossible.
      While comforting and reassuring him that the original assignment was to push the boulder, not to move it. He may not have felt as if he had succeeded because the boulder had not moved. But he had not realized that pushing that boulder had completely changed his body. He had become stronger and built muscles. He had developed endurance and stamina. He had thought the assignment was futile, but actually it was just what he needed to prepare him for the future.

      I had the same idea with the picture, I thought of how being faithful to a tiring or repetitive or burdensome assignment can bring not just the results you see now (like a beautiful flower) but also has benefits you don’t always see because of the effect it is having on you as a person.

      I don’t know if that makes sense.

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      1. Oh yes, this makes so much sense to me. That is a splendid story showing the hidden message. We keeps looking for results “without” when within is where it all happens. Thanks so much for this.

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  5. I love the way Maisy endured the extremes and hardships for so long, until an end came and along with it blessings. Good story, Mel. A lot of people wouldn’t have made it, just like you pointed out.

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  6. Pingback: What do you See? Roundup May 14/2019 | Willow Poetry

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