Keith laughed. “No, you will not believe how close it is.”
Wet mist covered the ground, soaking the fallen leaves into a dark teak brown. The air was moist and thick, rolling in with the arrival of mid-autumn. Bright sunlight filtered through holes in the low lying clouds, illuminating spotted trees along the path, casting everything in a pale grey. Elly pulled her sweater tight around her, “I love days like this. They are so rare in St. Louis.”
Carrying the sandwiches, Keith led Elly up the street from the shops and towards the giant mansions that rounded out the block just behind the local college soccer fields. Regal Plots was Clayton’s richest neighborhood – a gated community where Elly frequently delivered large, gorgeous arrangements to old, preserved looking women. The mansions were mostly an ancient grey, with wrought iron fences that surrounded their expertly manicured grounds. They faced outwards, in an oval shape that circled around a cobblestone street lined with stately mailboxes and dark green pittosporum. On this chilly, damp afternoon, there was nary a filthy rich person to be seen, although Elly did spy a gardener trimming a bush into a giant fleur de lis.
Keith rolled his eyes. “You would think with this much money, they wouldn’t need to trim their bushes into status symbols.”
Elly laughed. “Maybe Cadbury can pee on it on the way back.” Her legs burned. “Are we almost there?” she tilted her voice up at the end, to make it sound that she was enjoying the walk.
“Yup – we just have to go through this.”
Keith made a sharp right into the side yard of a giant brown house, elegant and whimsical with dark teak gables and a bright red door. Elly stood trying desperately to hold on to Cadbury, who was trying to bolt toward Keith.
“Um, are we allowed in there? I don’t think we are.”
Keith grinned. “I don’t think they’ll mind.” He glanced towards the house. “I don’t think anyone is even home.”
Elly stood waiting.
“What’s the worst thing that can happen?” he urged.
“Aaron and Lucia have decided to consummate their love behind the house. That is the kind of week I’ve been having,” Elly replied snidely.
Keith sighed, walked toward her and grabbed her hand, pulling her and Cadbury through the small opening. They took a small brick sidewalk past the edge of the house and ducked under an arbor crawling with frosted white foxglove, dipping their heavy heads sadly. Thick dead leaves covered the end of the walk, and they stepped into the wet grass.
Under the arch, the path opened up into a large circle garden, about the size of a baseball field. There appeared to be no entrance to the park – it was completely circled in by the back of the mansions. Bushes, maples, sparse pines all rounded the edges of the clearing, tiny blue flowers tucked up against their trunks. All around the perimeter, decaying flower bushes crowded each other for room, and ivy ran wild over every surface. In the middle of the park was a single picnic table, a small wooden swing set and a tiny cherub fountain. The dilapidated angel stared towards the sky, hoisting a huge urn that poured out remnants of dead flowers and a small trickle of water. One of its wings was broken, and someone had placed a lopsided crown of dried wax flowers on his head.
Elly stopped. “This is…so...” She was rendered speechless. It didn’t happen often.
Keith nodded. “I love it. I come here to think. There is never anyone here. I have yet to see a single person use this garden.” He shook his head. “What a waste.”
Elly strolled over to the cherub statue. Some punk kid had carved his initials into the wings, but somehow, it only made the statue more luminous. She ran her fingers over the deep cuts. “Rich people never know what they have.”
Keith settled down on the picnic table and started unwrapping the sandwiches. “It’s not just rich people.” He responded, eyeing Elly. “Most people don’t know what they have.”
Elly kicked the leaves away from the base of the fountain. “Isn’t that the truth? These people don’t realize that they have this incredible garden right here in back of their houses. It would be perfect when it’s in bloom, but instead it’s all neglected.”
Keith squirted some mayo on his sandwich from a small packet. “Most true and good things are hidden things. Faith in trusting the unseen, that kinda thing.”
Elly agreed, tying Cadbury to the end of the picnic table, where he happily commenced rolling himself in the wet leaves. “Great,” she said, rolling her eyes and sitting down, “now I’ll have to give him another bath. He’s really a ball of fun in the bathtub.”
Keith grinned. “I can imagine.”
Elly dug in to her sandwich with vigor. There were a couple of minutes of comfortable silence as they chewed, savoring the herbs and avocado on their tongues.