In The Garden

The night insects were almost deafening in the cool, still night air of the Texas Hill Country.  With no moon, the stars were a blanket of jewels in the clear sky over the single frame house that stood in the middle of acres of open pasture. A small cattle pond sat in one corner of the pasture. Unused by cattle for years, the grassy banks held hundreds of frogs that chirped their mating calls into the night.

Arthur slept on the screened porch of the house he inherited from his grandfather. After an ugly divorce, he moved in with the aging father of his father to “get back on his feet”. After a few months and the loss of his parents to an automobile accident, he realized fate had led him there for a reason.  After a year, he couldn’t think of leaving. His love for the old man, and the strong self-imposed obligation to see him pass with dignity created a bond that only death would break. He still grieved.  He wished he‘d spent more time with him during his youth.  

A low growl instantly woke Arthur from his sleep. Reaching down, he put his hand on the head of Blossom and quietly shushed the black Labrador. She was quiet for a moment, but soon startled growling again as she stood to look toward the yard outside the screened porch.   Art raised his head and looked through the screen. As he looked, Blossom stopped growling and returned to her spot on the floor next to Arthur’s cot.

Arthur continued to stare, but nothing was moving. He enjoyed the cool night air. As night fell, the dry Hill Country air lost heat rapidly and would eventually migrate to the south. Towards dawn, the breeze could almost feel cold. Until then, the slow movement of air wouldn’t even move a leaf.  

After a minute, he placed his head back on the pillow and looked out towards the sky.  He found Scorpio to the south. He thought for a moment and determined it was around midnight.  Reaching over, he scratched Blossom behind the ears and thought of the day she appeared on his steps. She was thin with tender paws; her ears were laced with scratches from briars she encountered while running through the underbrush. A trip to the vet and an inquiry in the local paper led nowhere.  For whatever reason, she was to be part of his life and had been so for the last eight years.

As he drifted off to sleep again, Blossom alerted him with a low growl. At that moment, it became completely silent. No insect; no frogs and the eerie silence made the hair stand on the back of his neck. Slowly, he rose up in the cot, sat on the edge and peered into the darkness.  A brief flash of light lit the sky towards the south. A nocturnal thunderstorm towards the coast was building at the boundary between cool and warm air. The silence was deafening, until the screech of a night hawk broke the stillness. As though by signal, the night filled with sounds once again.

Arthur reached and found his night vision goggles on the floor. He’d always wanted a pair, but never felt he could justify the expenditure – until the last few days. Blossom had barked for the last few nights from her place on the porch. His efforts to find the cause were futile, but somebody was out there.  The ripest of vegetables were disappearing from his garden during the night.

Peering into the dark brought a new world to Arthur. Across the pasture was a small herd of deer. They were as clear as in the day, although the green light made the appearance surreal. He scanned the pastures, looked to the drive for a vehicle and ended his scan observing his garden.

At first, Arthur saw nothing, but a slow movement caught his attention. It looked like somebody stooping in one of the rows of tomatoes, but after a moment, he realized it was too small. At that point it rose and stood on two legs. Arthur’s initial reaction was that it was a really big raccoon, but that was impossible; raccoons never grew that large. Further examination revealed a small bag. Whatever it was held a small bag and was filling it as it moved down the rows of Arthur’s garden.

Silently, the harvester continued with its task. Every choice was scrutinized before being picked. Occasionally, it would pause and look around; only to continue with removing vegetables from Arthur’s garden.  There was a purpose to the harvester. Arthur silently stared as it worked.

Arthur jumped when the freezer on his porch started. In the still night, the sound seemed deafening. Fearing it would cause Blossom to start barking, he turned to find her asleep. She stirred for a moment and turned her back to the warm air from the bottom of the freezer. Turning back towards the garden, he found the harvester staring toward the house.  Arthur froze.

The harvester spent minutes staring at the house. Arthur, who now was a little frightened, silently observed the creature in the night.  What he was observing was bizarre; an easily rattled person would believe they were hallucinating.  The thought had crossed Arthur’s mind, but he felt there was something logical about what he was seeing and could easily be explained.

After a few minutes, the harvester continued with its task. Arthur watched as it continued through his entire garden. Much was being explained; the loss of only select vegetables now made sense, although the “sense” was far beyond what he expected. He began to wonder how he would handle the situation.

After almost an hour, and the addition of more bags for the harvest, the harvester stood, grabbed all the bags and tapped the side of its head. Within moments, it rose and accelerated from the ground. Arthur looked up, but there was nothing to see. For a moment, he felt he saw a shadow. Removing his goggles, he stared into the night sky.   The stars were brilliant, but nothing moved, or seemed unusual.  The freezer stopped running and Arthur realized the night was silent once again. The chirp of a cricket broke the silence and the night sounds returned.

Disturbed, Arthur didn’t fall asleep until the eastern sky started lightening from the approaching dawn. His mind raced until that time. He was trying to decide what he’d tell his girlfriend Karen before she arrived in the afternoon. Their relationship seemed firm, but he didn’t feel comfortable with telling her of what she saw.

                                                                  ***

Karen found Arthur leaning on the fence to his garden the next afternoon; a bag of green tomatoes on the ground at his side.  Their plan was to fry the tomatoes with the catfish fillets Arthur had frozen in the spring. He turned and smiled as she approached.

“Hey, I thought you were going to let me pick the tomatoes?”

 “I know. I felt like working in the garden, so I went ahead and picked the best tomatoes. I didn’t want you to be tired when you helped me cook.”

Karen smiled and stared at Arthur’s eyes.

 “You look tired”

Arthur paused for a moment and answered: “I am. I didn’t sleep well last night. I had a lot on my mind.”

Karen became a little worried: “Are you okay?”

Arthur reached and hugged Karen: “I’m fine and I’ll be finer if you’ll stay tonight.”

Karen laughed and replied: “But, you have to make breakfast.”

Arthur hugged Karen tighter and said: “I think I’ll grow a late season garden this year.”

Karen was a little surprised by the comment. Arthur never seemed that interested in gardening. It was more of her passion and she relished the moments they spent in the garden together.

“Okay. So what are you going to plant?”Realizing he had no idea what to plant, Arthur replied: “I don’t know, but I have the feeling you have some ideas.”

Karen just smiled and grabbed his arm. “C’mon. We need to go get busy.”

As they walked to the house, Arthur felt as though they were being watched. Glancing up revealed an empty blue sky.  Suddenly, he felt as when he decided to stay until his grandfather passed. It was a feeling of peace and purpose; a feeling of determination with the goal of doing something kind and important.  He glanced at the sky one more time before they entered the house. He thoughts were on tonight. Would they return? What would he do?