The Garden Club by James Gerard (bill gates best books .TXT) 📕

position as head of marketing for the Meat Council—outrageous salary and perks included.”  The eyes rolled in response to the offer.   “I’ve told you a thousand….”

 

“Look, what kind of brother would I be if I didn’t look out for you?”

 

The buzzing energy that led the way out of the dreary apartment and into the posh estate began anew.  Hal so wanted to cry out a resounding “yes” to Kenneth’s offer.  He so badly wanted to take advantage of a position by which reunification with the wife and children would be a surety rather than the languishing torture of a love left forever abandoned.   While staring at the deep, dark face of the expansive ocean and listening to the roaring of the waves crashing on the shore, the thought of Ron popped into question.  The desire to take the offer began to fizzle out.

 

Hal stared into a field of darkness of the neatly arranged garden that had been created by the passionate mind and steady hands of Carol.  With the exception of those occasions where Kenneth arranged intimate parties with other corporate leaders, the garden remained untouched by artificial lighting.  On a few occasions he had witnessed its full glory under the natural illumination of unimpeded rays of sunshine, but Ron had never seen the perfect yet raw sight of nature tamed.

 

Kenneth never liked Ron.  Although Ron had a family background akin to that of his and Kenneth’s, he was always viewed by their father as a nuisance, a lowly, unsophisticated son of a naval captain that lacked the vision and integrity to surge ahead of the command above.  That attitude was instilled in Kenneth.  But Hal just could not abandon the friendship.  At the same time, he well understood that Kenneth could not be swayed to include an offer for Ron.  Ron was a subject not to be mentioned.

 

Finally Hal turned to Kenneth and answered, “I don’t know.”

 

“Damn it Hal.  Could you for once in your life do the right thing.  Just say yes.”

 

“I’ll think about it.”

 

“You’re fifty two years today.  Don’t think about it too long or you’ll be dead before you know it.”

 

Hal chuckled at the very thought, but the weight of the decision started to send sporadic impulses throughout. The feet started to shuffle about and the hands to wring.  Wishing to bring a quick end to the topic he walked up to Kenneth and stood face to face.   “By the way, are you serious about animal condos?”

 

“Where did you hear that nonsense?”

 

“In a meeting with the Governor.”

 

“It’s all just a bunch of lies the others our putting out there.”

 

“Then you guys aren’t up to anything weird?”

 

“Well,” Kenneth smiled, “weird no, but ingenious yes.”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m telling you my brother, get aboard now—and I do mean now.”

 

“Stop it already.”

 

“Okay, okay.  But you need to give me an answer pretty soon.”

 

“The Governor will make his decision on the park next week.  I’ll let you know then.  By the way, I take it you’ll be there?”

 

“I’m telling you Hal, if this upcoming project is successful, the park is immaterial.”

 

“It’s that big?”

 

“Yeah, but enough with the shop talk>  It’s time to celebrate!”

 

That’s all I need right now, thought Hal, as Kenneth draped an arm over the shoulders and steered him in the direction of a small patio area just on the other side of the mansion.

 

Hal felt the pressure mounting.   On one side the offer seemed too good to pass up, but on the other side it would come at the cost of a losing a dear friend.  Yes, he reasoned, Governor Hartson was going to decide very soon on the future.  It would happen regardless of his or Ron’s wishes.  Yet, hope remained that somehow the Governor would do the unthinkable and keep the park open rather than have it closed and it’s land transferred for the use of whoever or sold off to the highest bidder.

 

The cake and ice cream sat on the picnic table.  The sight of Martha and Carol laughing along Kenneth’s jovial mood attributed to a dash of spirits mixed in with his punch, delivered a personal flare to the otherwise lackluster occasion.  Still, amidst it all, Hal could not remove the nagging thoughts that dampened the celebration.  He kept thinking about Monday.

 

He had come to grips that Ron was much more fervent than he about matters revolving around the park.  Hal struggled with the idea of making a strong stand for his best friend or of just surrendering and casting off the dimming desire to serve the park.   But sitting there, he could not ignore the smoldering in a heart that begged to take the offer.  At the same time, he could not condemn his friend to a life of nothingness.

A Search for Lost Paths

 Perched high above a grove of banana trees, Hal sat alone.  His body was fidgeting about the seat as the eyes darted back and forth between the faces of  security monitors to the left and a screen framing a map of the park’s trails to the right.  With each quick glance, all the long lost memories of the continuous motor routes and trails throughout the park were resurrected.  But Hal realized the child-like enthusiasm needed to be squashed to allow a collective calm to rise in the anticipation of the official visit.

 

With the revived knowledge of the park’s pathways came a visualization of the longest one.  The path was an elevated trail beginning on the river’s south side, continued on by looping around the lake, and was one that offered a view of the park’s complex variety of life surrounding the north’s ground trail.  As the memory of the trail became clearer in the mind, Hal concluded that it offered no better view than the one from the observation nest.

 

There has to be an open elevated trail that branches up into the middle tier of the canopy, thought Hal.  But as the eyes scanned the electronic map in detail, it became evident that all had been cluttered up with solid, black lines through the years as indicators of the hands-off policy.

 

Hal looked to a window offering the best view of the clutter below and stepped to it with a purposeful approach.  Frustration reared its ugly head as eyes beheld the paths and elevated trails that had been choked off by the overgrowth of any and all natural flora making up the forest.  Eyes stared intently with the hope of catching a glimpse of a trail by which a vehicle could navigate the densely packed vegetation, but again, the years of neglect proved to be too much of an obstacle for such a venture.

 

Out of desperation, Hal thought of a way to get around the hands-off policy but it would come at a risk.  He knew Ron would have no problem agreeing to the calculated plan, yet the ears and eyes of the maintenance workers out and about could sound a warning to the unauthorized clearing and the good intentioned actions could be halted by force.

 

Hal set his sight on the radio.  If such a brazen plan would be carried out he needed Ron’s input as to when and how it could be accomplished.  Just as a finger was about to flip on the radio, his phone rang.  The screen identified both number and caller as unknown, but realizing that most of the calls received were official in nature, Hal had the perpetrator in mind. 

 

“Rain Forrest Park.  Hal speaking.  How may I help you?”

 

“How are things going?”

 

“Of course,” responded Hal, “who else could it be.”

 

“You have a problem?” the Governor’s aide asked.              

 

“No.  I’m just hard at work getting everything ready.”

 

“Give me an update.”

 

“Well, I got a good three and a half miles of a continuous pathway, but it’s mostly at ground level.”

 

“Ground level,” responded the aide.  “No one’s going to get a good survey of the land at ground level.”

 

“Well,” Hal uttered with a hint of sarcasm, “unless they want to hack their way through some of the elevated pathways, that’s the best I can do.”

 

“What about clearing some of the paths?”

 

Just the very idea of the suggestion caused Hal to pause.  He found himself suddenly at a loss for words.  “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

 

“Are you deaf?”  Clear the damn paths.” 

 

“All of them?” Hal sheepishly asked.

 

“No you idiot.  Just clear enough of a trail that goes up to the top.”

 

“So I have his permission to do so?”

 

“Yes,” shouted the aide.  “As you long as it’s done by Monday morning, I don’t care if you cut down the whole forest.  Just get it done.”

 

Hal was momentarily stunned.  Just the idea of opening up trails that had been choked off for years came crashing into reality.  But even though he envisioned the project as one of epic proportions, the finished work would give those determined to see the park’s ugliness a different vantage point in which to witness the raw, spectacular beauty of the life within.

 

Hal sat before the monitor and peered over the map.  Eyes scanned the trails carefully searching for a path that would offer a spectacular view.  Very quickly segments of paths were selected, connected together, and highlighted on a hard copy of the park’s map.

 

“Yes!” he proclaimed.  The radio came to life, “Ron!”

 

“What?”

 

“Where are you?”

 

“I’m at north side river.  I'm just past mile marker 3.7.”

 

A security camera panned to the left.  “Come on Ron,” he whispered, “please get them over to the elevated side.”

 

“Oh my god!” shouted Ron.  “Run for your lives.”

 

All of sudden horrid screams from children blared through the speaker.  The camera panned further to the left and witnessed the group of students clinging to their teacher.  Hal sighed in frustration knowing there would be yet another complaint to which he would have to answer to.

 

“You’re going to blow it,” whispered Hal.  You need stop doing that.  You know it just gets us in trouble.”

 

“They’re having a great time,” Ron laughed.

 

Images of the Governor’s angry expression popped into mind.  Hal could just hear his voice spewing out yet another lecture about putting the children into harm’s way.  Hal wondered if all the pleas had fallen on deaf ears or was Ron just thumbing his nose at the powers that be?  He could not tell, but such disregard for discretion led to annoyances that could only hurt the cause.   With the possibility of the park’s imminent closure, however, he figured the cause was as good as dead.

 

“Of course they are.”

 

“All right already,” shouted Ron.

 

“Now pay attention.  After the tour I need you to start inspecting all the upper trails on the east side, especially the upper loop.”

 

“What for?”

 

“Well my friend, get ready for a shock: we’ve been given the go-ahead to open up a trail for our distinguished guests.”

 

Hal waited for a response.  The imagination stirred pictures of a face grinning from ear to ear.  The camera panned back to the right as he wondered if Ron’s reaction had been involuntarily taken away by a light headed feeling sending him crashing to the ground.   The screen only framed a motionless body.  He smiled and just gazed at his friend secretly reveling over the idea of opening a long dormant trail.   To actually do it, however, had to have made Ron feel as if he were on top of the world.

 

“Come again?” was the long awaited response.

 

“You heard me.  We get to open some of the upper trails.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Seriously.  Meet me at the tool