Hairy Garden
3 o’clock in May. It was one of those few days of the year when nature seemed to be just a few feet below his nose. The beauty of the gardens all around had tied him and kept him from ever leaving his castle. And the flowery weather was making him nothing but nervous.
More coffee was spilling to the side of his lips than he could drink. Although the already-broken window could do so little to block this view, Luscious tossed his body forward to shut the glass to see no more. But it was that same moment that his lustful eyes touched upon a wandering girl. Luscious saw the girl peering into the garden in front of his mansion as if she was seeking something of great value. She instantly became a goddess he’s never touched. The way the wind carried her short brown hair…and the shorter black hair…on her arms was even more infatuating than the pig snouts in his collection.
Where’s that damned coat? Where’s my damned shoes? Where’s my damned everything?
Considering that he’s been under his roof for 30 years. 10 years. 5 months—nothing seemed to be ready for him to leave. Luscious desperately muddled through his rubbish to peek through the sun-heated window.
Tah, Tah~ She’s still there. She’s still there.
With no more nervous-relieving-nails to bite, Luscious looked around to find anything to shadow himself from the world he was about to tread on. Then he dove for a last check through the window. His obsession fattened as he saw the hair on her arms half burning due to the 3 o’clock heat.
That beastly beauty! Let me go get it before it burns away. Luscious gunned towards his nightmare, the outside.
He never knew how massive the gate was. It was maybe the rust that had made it heavier. Nevertheless, Luscious managed to open the gate and leave. He couldn’t bear the ground touching his feet. His toes entangled. Hundreds and hundreds of intense odor from the garden confused his heart beat. He split through the air, desperate to get some “fragrance-free” oxygen. As he followed the girl, steaming Luscious stopped and hid half his body inside a rotting trunk that he didn’t dare give a second stare.
There she was wondering by the white pentas, heading towards the woods, duckly awkward, as if she was on skis. Her cheeks were glowing red and her hair stuck to her forehead like an over-sized wig as sweat poured down her face. Her face was of a common fairness. However…
The hair! The hair on her arms is all dead! Her sweat had killed them all. No no. Maybe her sweat actually saved the hair from burning. Ha ha! You noble sweat! I thank you for this.
He fought himself across the garden and into the thick dead woods where the hairy girl disappeared to.
Damn it!
He made a full circle, yet there seemed to be nobody else with him in the darkened forest.
“Watch out!!!”
Luscious fell on his bottom as a sturdy chestnut horse jumped over him, with the girl gripping on its neck. The girl, with a shine on her face, gave him a flying kiss instead of a “sorry.” He quickly hid himself by the dog roses. Then the emanation of the flowers reminded him it was no time to camouflage.
However, the girl and the horse was already a distant away galloping toward the village. The earth on his feet was no longer a nuisance. The flowers, the bees, nor the sun frightened him anymore. He couldn’t see nor feel anything except the intensifying obsession for the touch of the goddess.
But for now I will get myself a drink. Just like the old days. Luscious found his way to Jovus’ inn by the gate of the village. Jovus was the only inn owner in town who didn’t sweep him away from his inn. Although Jovus never cared about his silliness, he was still a fun man to chat with. Single knock…Double knock…Triple knock…yeah, that should annoy him enough. Air-headed as he appeared, Luscious dusted his feet and dumped himself on a stool by the window.
“What do you want Luscious?” Jovus spoke with a flat reverent voice.
“Just a beer and a warm chat with you, old friend. Ha ha ha!” For some reason, Luscious couldn’t stop staring at the old man constantly dividing and twisting his black beard.
“As you can so clearly see, today my friend…,” Luscious tossed his beer high up in the air. “I have freed myself out of my house after 30 years. I saw this girl in the garden this afternoon. You know, Jovus, even with all the decaying smell of the flowers in front of my house…Em…Um… I was able to keep my eyes open,” he proudly pointed at his eyes, “and find this hairy armed girl that needs arm brushing. Arm brushing! He he he… And I thought I could help her with that. So…” Luscious could only laugh through his nose. “Although I must admit that I wasn’t fast enough to help her, really.”
“Well I’m sure…whatever. But as I always say, you come here everyday, Luscious. This inn wasn’t even here 30 years ago! Never trust yourself, Luscious. That’s all I can tell you.” Jovus said, and sat back by the cashier.
“What are you saying mad man?” Luscious furious and confused, took his last sip and walked out before he could hear another word.
I come for a pleasant visit after 30 years and he treats me like I’m insane. Luscious blubbered while he roamed out the village. Then a girl with a sack full of hay shadowed by his bare feet. He heedlessly gripped her hand.
“You! Come with me at once. Your arm needs brushing,” Luscious grinned.
The girl didn’t seem to feel his hand.
“Hey! You are the man I saw this afternoon. What seems to be the problem, sir?” The girl with hay all over her face giggled while swaying her hips side to side. She seemed to be in a rush for something exciting.
What is this madness? Doesn’t she know her arms need brushing?
The girl gave him a quick eye and looked behind his shoulders to see where he came from. Grandpa’s inn.
“Sir, I have to go feed my horse. It hasn’t eaten all day. Perhaps you should come with me, instead. I think that it is your brain that needs brushing!” She twisted her bounded wrist to free it and held on to his, instead.
“I’m Florence and I’ve heard about you from my grandpa, you know, Jovus? When I heard about you I thought it’d be nice to have you stay in our home for a while. It’d be good to have someone give you the accurate dates of the year. Wouldn’t it? I know…Grandpa hasn’t agreed with me yet. But he’ll get used to it. It will be just temporary anyway.”
Like grandfather like granddaughter! What are they saying about years? Are they saying that it was my fault that I was locked up for 30 years? Maybe I should just drag her home and eat her for supper. That should shut her up.
But Luscious did not know how to strike back. He pinned her steady eyeballs and scanned down…to her shoulders…and her…and her arms!
“What happened to your hairy arms, mad girl? Have you given it to your horse?” Luscious asked.
Florence has already dragged him a few meters into the west of the village.
“What arms? My arms? What’s wrong with them? Or is it just one of your insanity-of-the-day? So I heard. You do have quite a collection of them.”
What is this ghost? Wake up! Wake up! Luscious pinched his cheek with his free hand. “Let me go!”
“Two days ago it was…what…golden snake-like eyeballs? Yesterday it was ears full of fruits! And today…just hairy arms that need brushing, huh?”
He could no longer digest it. He had to free himself from this demon doctor before the demon possessed him!
What is she going to do with me? This is not how it’s supposed to work!
Luscious shook off her hand with force and sprinted. He ran and ran and ran till his rusted gate appeared. He went in and locked the gate, as if somebody had tried to break in before.
He scuttled up the stairs, trying to erase the memory of her…the hair…the garden. He dropped them all on each step of the stairs. He arrived in his dusky room and saw the smirking window. Luscious trampled towards it and cursed it for…for…
‘I don’t remember.’
Then he accidentally saw the moon swimming through the waves of clouds and stars. He dragged a ladder out to the window frame and decided to kiss the moon.