Grandma told us a story about a beautiful garden named “Eden” where the first man and woman lived. She said the story is to be passed to our progeny as it was passed to her from her ancestors.
Everything Grandma said about the garden of Eden was just beautiful and perfect. That night I slept thinking of the garden of Eden wishing to be there and to have the opportunity to feel a wondrous beauty of nature.
I opened my eyelids early in the morning. I saw myself in a green environment. It seems to be a dream because I vividly remember laying on my bed and counting my ceilings before the power of sleep took over me.
I rose up to feel the bed I lay in. It was different from my bed. It was so soft and tender, with green vegetation and roses over it. “No, this can't be real”, I said to myself. Even though I loved to be in the garden of Eden, I never wanted to be away from my family at just 11. I was walking with my barefoot around the garden when I saw a black snake and fear gripped me at that instance, so I put my legs into work and runoff.
I got to a safe space under a beautiful guava tree, I plucked from it and it's fruit tastes so good, it felt like the best fruit on earth. I was delighted and happy, in no time the admiration of the garden took off my loneliness but my happiness was cut short again. when I felt a cold chill on my feet going above my legs, I looked at my legs and saw a snake curling around my left leg, this time around it wasn't black but green.
I remember the quote “fear the green snake under the green grass” looking around and my sight saw the green grass and the the snake, hot tears came from my eyes passing down my cheek. The snake spoke “don't be scared, I won't hurt you” hearing an animal saying actual human words freaked the hell out of me, and so I ran away with the snake still curled around my legs but it eventually left my legs as my pace of running increased. I bumped into my younger sister, Sarah as I was running.
“Fred where have you been? Grandma, Mum, Dad, and even little Michael have been in a search for you”. I was confused seeing Sarah but was also relieved knowing I wasn't alone.
We took a walk to what looks like our family home and everyone was having fun. I saw hippopotamus, monkeys, lions, and tigers around, my little brother Michael was feeding the monkeys with bananas. “Fred where have you been?” My mum said in a scolding voice.
My Grandma, as usual, came to my rescue “it's okay, the boy was just having some fun, weren't you Fred?”. Yes, I said in a shaking voice. I sat down with my family in a dining room made with woods and designed by green vegetation as we ate fruits and vegetables. I narrated my ordeal to them, and they all made a mockery of it. “I guess you were sleepwalking as usual. Be thankful I came to your rescue. Animals here are friendly and playful. We have been living here since we came to this world” Sarah spoke.
Minutes later I was touching every animal I could see both the wild and domestic animals. I got to where the lions were and I put my hands in their mouth feeling scared but the assurance from Sarah that they do no harm kept me still.
I woke up with a glass of water poured on my face. I opened my eyes and it was Sarah. "Fred got up, we got to prepare early, I don't want to be late to school today".
I rose up looking at the Lion painting I made in my room realizing I was back to my reality and the garden of Eden was all in my head. I didn't tell anyone about my dream, years later as an adult, I spoke to a friend about it, and he told me it's believed from a certain culture that every person have two lives or more which they can live at the same time in different worlds and that I might have dreamed about my second life.
I don't know what to believe though, but I am planning to get a garden in my future home, can't definitely get something as beautiful and friendly as the garden of Eden I saw in my dream. But I am going to get an amazing garden that will bring out the garden of Eden in my head to reality.
Photo from Pixabay