I walk through an opening in a row of hedges. it was quite tight and narrow but was most definitely an opening, and used before judging by the packed dirt beneath my feet. It went on for 15 feet or so before I came to the entrance into what seemed. A new world, colors seemed brighter, more vivid. Birds sang with such grace and harmony that it marveled the great musicians of my time. I came to more rows of hedges with roses, violets and tulips spattered into them. Intricate patterns and optical illusions were woven into the green background. I removed my headdress , the sun was not as harsh as it once was. The desert sun had burned my skin brown but the rays of sunlight seemed to float down to Earth and lightly grace every inch of this forgotten paradise. I walked for what seemed like hours, it was a maze of beauty, a labyrinth of loneliness. I never once came to a spot I had once seen before, nor had I witnessed a pattern a second time. It grew with every step I took. Hours turned to days then to weeks. Luckily, my mind was kept sane, it sang to me at night to help me drift off to sleep, it nourished my body when I tried to kill it. It talked to me when I talked to it. It held me in her arms when I was cold. She listened to me when I bragged or complained and even when I said nothing at all.She called me out when I was wrong and she wanted to fight me when I made her mad. Because she was my rose, and I, hers. Then suddenly a lightning storm in the night set the garden ablaze and destroyed it, but I have only myself to blame for that.