Healing Hearts

Sarafire woke up that morning, feeling strange. It was not that she was angry, or scared, or simply worried, but a confusing combination of all three emotions, tossing and turning within her, making her feel not quite awake or sure what was going on. Perhaps it had to do with the fact she knew today was not going to be a normal day. She was all too use to the dull routine of getting up, getting breakfast and going to classes, getting dinner, staying up for a while, and then going to bed. She rarely didn’t go to class unless she was sick or for some reason the class was canceled. A completely free day of classes as unsettling, and felt wrong.

She dragged herself from her warm bed, looking at the time and wishing she could sleep in. Yet, Master Yoda had wanted her to get up and be ready shortly after the sun rose. She wondered why she has getting up if she was only going to spend time in a garden. His request to wear outdoors clothes made her think she was going be digging around in the dirt. That didn’t sound like much fun, but then again sitting in a boring classroom, listening to painfully long lecture wasn’t much better. She sighed to herself and headed for the shower.

She came out ten minutes later, wet, clean, but still not very awake. There was something in the air, well maybe the Force, that felt awkward and would not leave her alone. She thought about the feeling as she dressed herself. She pondered it, looking for words to describe the feeling as she tied up her hair into a high pony tail. It was when she was about to open the door on the way out, did the word finally come to here. It was a simple work, but one with much meaning that described her perfectly: dread.

It was dread that crept up on her during the night. It was dread that made her have strange, vague dreams of the unknown. It was dread that made her muscles tights, her mind closed, and her heart pounding. She dreaded what was to come on this uncertain day.

She found the garden not far from the master’s quarters. The garden was small with four little triangles full of delicate, colorful flowers and little shrubs that outlined each triangle. The dirt was a neutral, dark brown. The triangles were spaced with stone walkways that met up to a central circle with two miniature, gray stone benches. Above her was a glass ceiling, allowing the warm, bright, rosy light of the early sun to shine upon the pretty scene.

Sarafire let out a sigh of relief. She had been envisioning a much bigger garden with tough, light brown solid that would be hard to dig the many plants. Instead, she found a small, private garden that could not have much work for her to do. Maybe she would only have to spend an hour or two and then be released for the rest of the day, free to do what she wanted.

“Came early you did. Good.”

She turned, trying to suppress a feeling of surprise, to see Master Yoda taking the last few steps to stand next the glass door to the garden. She reflected today would not be a good day to be late.

“Sleepy. You look. Did you sleep well?”

She shook her head and suddenly found herself rudely yawning. She hurried to cover her mouth and turned a soft pink. She apologized for her lack of manners. She was not given a simple nod as most of the teachers would do, but a wave of Master Yoda’s hand.

“No need to apologize. Yoda knows that it is early for a young Jedi to be up. But you will wake up.”

She was not so sure of this. Her mind seemed to work far to slow and she wondered how hard the work would be and if her tiredness would get in the way. The master walked in first and went to one of the benches in the center. She walked into the greenhouse, closed the door quietly, and stopped, facing him, waiting for her instructions.

“Do you like the garden?”

“Yes, it’s pretty and small…and quiet.”

“Like your room.”

She gave him a weird look.

“Err, how is this garden like my room? I mean, yeah, it’s quiet, but I don’t see anything else connected.”

“What do you see here?”

She looked around. The garden had not been attended for some time. The flowers looked slightly wilted and the weeds were getting out of hand. The shrubbery needed to be hedged and the dirt was dry and cracked. But Sarafire had never tended a garden and knew nothing about this.

“Um, flowers and some bushes and um dirt.”

The Jedi Master sat down on the perfect height bench, which had been made for him, and looked at the nearest triangle.

“Do you know a weed is?”

“Oh! And um the garden has some weeds I guess.”

“Not an answer padawan.”

She blushed again, realizing she could not get away with her usual tricks of faking the right answer.

“That green stuff between the flowers?”

Master Yoda nodded and continued to talk.

“An unwanted plant, weeds are. But a living plant it is. In it’s own place, it is a precious, admired, blooming flower. Uproot the weeds you will and later replant them in their own spot.”

She went to the triangle he was looking at and started to yank the weeds out.

“No no! Carefully! Slowly!”

She looked over her shoulder and then went back to her task. This time she pulled the plants out with more care, noticing the long roots that came out. She began a pile of the unwanted weeds.

“Save the roots for that is the plant’s way of living. Without the roots, the plant not drink or eat and died it will.”

She understood and put more care into digging the roots out. Half an hour later she had finished with the first garden bed. She was already covered in dirt, but she was also different. Her mind had quieted down and she found herself calmer. She liked the room she was in and like the sun on her back. She was in no real rush and the work she was doing was not hard.

“Good. Come here and tell you what to do next, I will.”

She got up from her hands and knees and walked over to the bench. She sat down. She wondered why he didn’t have her move on to the next bed. There was another question she had that was bothering her. The Jedi Master noticed this and had her ask was on her mind.

“Why am I digging up weeds-I mean plants? Why not just let the garden run wild?”

“Respect life you do not, but you should. These are not mere plants or weeds you dig up, but the Force itself. With no weeds there is no Force, or us. Interconnected we are. By taking care of a small garden, we take care of the Force and you.”

He poked her in the shoulder as he finished the sentence. She jerked back, looking surprised.

“Allowed to run wild you were. Messy is your life and your room. You are wilted, but pretty. So now you will water the flowers.”

He showed her where to find a watering can and where to fill the can up. She went to the bed she had previously worked on and soaked the soil. She reflected on what had been said to her. It was true her life was a walking disaster that no one cared for. She realized the best of the students were always be “weeded” “watered” and made to look pretty. But then she realized something else that made her depressed.

“Suppose I’m just a weed? Maybe I don’t belong here and I’ll just die if I stay here. What happens to weeds?”

“Take them to the back wall and plant them in rows. Plant them deep so they can take root you will and then water them.”

She wanted to call on him for not giving her an answer, but she held her tongue and did as she was ordered. There was a small patch of dirt with no small bushes to outline the bed. The dirt was new, darker in color. She realized the new dirt had been laid on purpose. This was a special bed. She worked quickly, but with greater care than before, making sure the plants had a chance to grow on their own with lots of space. When she finished watering them, she went back to the master who asked her a question.

“Why put the plants in their own bed?”

“Well, you said that they need their own place. So this is their own place. They don’t have to compete with all the other flowers and that way they have a chance of being looked at. And…they are kind of pretty on their own.”

Master Yoda nodded and smiled at her, apparently pleased with her answer. She wasn’t sure why, but she had a feeling it had to do more than what she had said.

“Finish the garden and then get food. Then clean your room you will. I will check on it before the evening meal.”

He got up from his seat and walked away. Sarafire went back to digging up the weeds, watering the garden bed, and replanting the unwanted plants. She finished in time to take a quick shower and get some lunch before she faced the harder task of the day: cleaning her room.