WordPress The Blacklight Candelabra: Creation and Destruction

For the inaugural writing prompt, I am challenging you to discuss the interrelatedness of creation and destruction.

Once upon a time there was a garden, it was nice, but only nice. There was a pampas grass in the garden. It began as a small pampas grass with a few stalks and no panicles with seeds. That was only once at the beginning of the time. Over the years the pampas grew and decided to produce its feathery panicles and everyone was happy. The owner of the garden was happy and even some of the neighbours clapped, although after ten years the clapping subsided and the owner wondered where it would lead to. In the middle of the plant there was nothing, the leaves and panicles had retired to the edges. Only the cat enjoyed the middle of the plant as she could hide from the world.

Despite cat delights and admiration of the size of the plant, which seem to have hidden intentions of taking over the garden, it was decided it must go. Not only the pampas but the complete garden would be renovated, destroyed to make room for something sensible and above all easier to take care of. The owners of the garden were no longer as young and active as they were, they belonged to the senior citizen tribe and caring for a pampas was becoming a burden to these golden oldies. 

The fate of the pampas was sealed and the gardener was called, the death bringer of all unwanted vegetation. After ten years of growth in the garden it was destroyed within thirty minutes. The roots were ripped from their pitch and an empty patch of earth remained. Gardeners are quick and waste no time with destruction, knowing that the replacement would be better, not only better, but would be a source of financial profit.

And so it came to pass that the pampas died. No tears were shed and within a day the complete garden had been emptied of its soil and the work was completed. A new lawn appeared, laid on the new soil as a green carpet. The garden was perfect, what could be better? Somewhere the garden owner had a strange feeling that she had forgotten to inform the gardener of an important aspect of the garden in connection with the original place where the pampas grass stood, but she forgot due to the happiness and contentment of having a new garden resembling a creation of Capability Brown.

The owner was congratulated by the neighbours, her garden was praised as one of the best in the neighbourhood and she was happy until the evening of the second day. It was then that she remembered what she perhaps should have told the gardener. She was eating the evening meal on the porch and admiring the new lawn when she saw movement on the flower bed. It was as if the complete flower bed was moving. She remembered this particular flower bed was immediately behind the pitch belonging to the departed pampas grass. Was this some sort of hidden revenge from an undead pampas. Memories of a book “The Day of the Triffids” by John Wyndham returned of an extra terrestrial plant that invaded the world and took over.

She approached the moving landscape and discovered approximately one hundred, or was it one thousand, ants. They were creeping crawling and some even dared to fly. They had wings, and then she remembered. There were two suspicious mounds beneath the pampas grass and now she knew what they were. Perhaps she should have told the gardener. Of course, she was watching the survivors of the two ant nests that had found their place beneath the pampas. The ants were happy, living an undisturbed life with their forever pregnant queen, following their ant customs. They were so long undisturbed that even some had time to grow wings.

Immediate action was required. The pampas was destroyed, but the ants lived on, although they were homeless. Quickly water was boiled and poured onto the poor little defenceless ants. In the meanwhile they had spread to other places in the garden, seeking revenge. More water was boiled and eventually a few surviving ants dragged their bodies through the remains of their murdered comrades.

The next day ant bait tins, five pieces, were distributed in the garden and three liter of the cheapest mineral water with gas was poured in suspicious places as this was the final killer which would vanquish all remaining ants from the garden.

And then there was peace in the newly created garden. The ants were destroyed, with a few other innocent bystander insects that had nothing to do with the ant invasion: one of the disadvantages of human attacks. The pampas had been vanquished for ever. Three remaining pampas leaves were discovered a week later. Was there a scream heard when they were ripped out of the garden?