The Night Eden

The Gingko plant heals all of life’s forgotten memories.

Rose’s mother had written that the Ginko plant had healing abilities. Rose knew that retrieving these plants held all the answers to healing her father.

It was sunset. A full moon was predicted. With her rucksack on her back and her mother’s diary in hand, Rose set out to find the magical Night Eden. Rose remembered Grandmother Flora describing this place. She said the Night Eden had once flourished, but with neglect after Hada’s passing it had become Nature’s graveyard – Abandoned Eden.

In the Night Eden lie all the remedies that you seek.

It wasn’t nonsensical drivel after all and, like a moth to a flame, Rose was drawn to it.

Rose walked through the garden behind the house and suddenly it was transformed, as though she had stepped into another world.

The cold air was filled with mysterious fog and the ground was strewn with the corpses of flowers and broken tree branches. The trees were dying, their roots diseased and sullen.

The hooting of owls and the sounds of bats flapping overhead broke the silence. It was twilight now as she moved further into this desolate place. A screeching owl flew menacingly overhead. Rose nearly jumped out of her skin and dropped her flashlight to the ground.

This Eden was not the living, breathing ‘Night Eden’ of her mother’s stories. This place looked dead, forgotten by mother nature

In the dark Rose tripped and stumbled. She tumbled down a hill and at the bottom landed next to a waterfall that crashed into a river.

Rose looked around her. In the bright light of a full moon the river glowed and she could see the rainbow colours of the waterfall.

Magic lives within these pages. My memory awakens, once this book is read again.
The magic hides behind nature’s colourful river.

A firefly, glowing in the night sky, danced overhead. It became Rose’s symbol of hope, drawing her along the bank of the river closer to the rainbow waterfall where it magically transformed into a golden unicorn.

The unicorn ran straight through the waterfall leaving behind an opening in the crashing water just wide enough for Rose to quickly run through. She took a leap of faith and followed the sparkling trail of the unicorn. A sense of lightheadedness and flight overcame her and she closed her eyes as she passed through a magical barrier behind the waterfall. Untouched by a drop of water, and frightened about what she might see on the other side, she slowly opened her eyes.

Rose’s mind had a hard time comprehending this new magical world. It seemed untouched and full of life, not like the Abandoned Eden she had left behind. The familiar scent of freshly watered marigolds hung in the air. An array of decorative flowers welcomed her.

The big, silver moon decorated the night sky above and lit up everything. It was reflected in the flowing river with golden ripples below. Beside the river grew the magical Ginko plant and Moonflower.

Exactly like the descriptions in mother’s bedtime stories.

“This is it!” she yelled, excitedly. “This is the Night Eden!” Thrilled, she raced down beds and beds filled with exotic magical plants and flowers. She was oblivious to the fact that she was being observed by a tall, mysterious figure.