Chapter Six
In the neat garden a young girl hummed an enchanting tune as she collected dead flowers and laid them in a wicker basket with a large handle. She was dressed in a puffy, cream dress, which had a big, red bow at the back. A round, white hat sat tilted back on her head and the golden locks of her hair fell onto her shoulders. She had a contented expression on her angelic face as she worked.
A tall privet hedge enclosed the garden which sat under a violet sky. Although it was daytime, there was no visible sun overhead. A tennis racket and a skipping rope lay on the extensive lawn under a swing suspended from the only tree in the garden.
A man in white robes strolled into the garden and stopped behind the girl. “Your flowers are beautiful my dear,” he said.
“Father.” she said as a breeze ruffled her hair.
“I need you to go to the Land of Trees again my daughter. There is a flower which must be collected and placed in your basket.
“Oh father, you know I never want to leave my garden.”
“I know, I would not ask it of you if it were not important,” he said as he turned and walked out of the garden.
“Very well,” she said, more to herself than her father.
She rose and followed him.