"Garden"

Padding softly through the overgrown kiwi, stretching out their trailing vines, searching for the sunlight, I inhale deeply the sweet mixed aromas of peonies, geraniums, and sweet basil. Letting the sun warm the back of my neck, I crease at my hips and fold over to reach for my toes like those vines reaching for the sun. Feeling a familiar pulling sensation at the back of my knees where my hamstrings both exhale, relax, and, at the same time, beg for reprieve. I reach down below the green leaves and pick up a small, light-colored sachet-like fruit. Peeling back the pale orange creamsicle petals to find the little yellowish-orange globe fruit sitting in the middle of the pod, I pop it in between my teeth and pull slightly so the fruit releases its hold on its protective cover and I use my teeth to squash the orb. The tiny, unassuming orb releases its juices, flooding my mouth with a sour yet sweet-like-a-carrot, tomato, and passionfruit mixed together. Unassuming and perplexing all at once. I scrape my fingers lightly across the surface of the dirt to find more hidden orbs, aware of the dirt being trapped beneath my fingernails. I inhale again, drop my bare knee into the soil…