The Rocking Horse

CEBU, Philippines - Seven year old Lily stood at the other side of the street looking at her grandmother's house, a lollipop in her mouth.

Grandma died two years ago, and since all her children - except for the Lily's parents - were already working abroad, the house had been unoccupied for a long while already. Lily's parents never went abroad because, working as teachers in a private school in the city, they believed they were more needed in their own country.

"Do you miss her Lily?" Nang Loding, the owner of the small sari-sari store in front of grandma's house, asked the girl.

Lily turned to Nang Loding. "Yes I miss her," the girl said. "I miss the times when Lola and I watered the plants." She pointed at an L-shaped iron rack that used to hold grandma's plants at the corner of her house.

The pots were now empty. Dark vines crawled over the iron rack.  

            Lily felt a bit embarrassed in mentioning the plants to Nang Loding, as nothing of those greens remained.

Nang Loding understood the girl's feelings. She told her, "Don't worry. I can help you plant new San Franciscoes, and Santans, and maybe we can line up some Birds of Paradise again where they used to grow." Birds of Paradise were grandma's favorite.

Lily threw her lollipop away and ran towards her grandma's house.

From the door, she saw her parents unpacking things in the living room.  She ignored them and instead went straight upstairs to grandma's room.

She threw herself into grandma's now dusty bed, and cried.

"Why did you leave us grandma?" she sobbed.  "Why did you leave the plants?  If only you can see them now, the all empty pots and dark vines!"

Lily cried until she fell asleep.

After a while the barking of dogs across the street woke her up. It was already dark. At first she did not seem to recognize the surroundings, until she remembered she was in grandma's room.

She pulled herself to the side of the bed and searched for her slippers. She only found one.

As she looked for the other slipper, her eyes swept though the room. She spotted the old cabinet, the old Singer sewing machine, the mahogany desk and chair, the small table at the side of the bed and the foot of the bed. Then her eyes grew big in surprise to see something…

A wooden rocking horse was standing at the side of the bed. She didn't recall seeing it there when she entered the room barely an hour ago. How did it get there? 

And grandma never had a rocking horse!  Lily never saw it in grandma's house before.

In a mix of confusion and excitement, the girl got out of bed and walked towards the wooden rocking horse, only one foot with slipper.

She straddled on top of the rocking horse and began rocking.  Forward, backward, forward, backward.  When the horse rocked forward for the third time, everything inside the room changed.

Lily suddenly found herself in the middle of a beautiful garden, riding not a wooden horse but a real horse. 

Then, from out of nowhere, her grandma appeared. "Welcome Lily," the woman said, "welcome to my beautiful garden!"

Lily was so happy to see her grandmother again after a long time. She hurriedly got down the wooden horse and hugged grandma.

"Where are we, lola?"

"We're here in my garden, my beautiful princess," grandma smiled.

Lily was getting confused. "But you're garden is right downstairs, lola!"

"No, my little princess, this is my garden now!" The old woman explained.

"But, what about the one downstairs… whose garden is it now?" the girl asked.

Grandma looked into the girl's eyes. "That's your garden now, princess."

"But it's all empty pots and dark vines now.  It isn't a garden anymore, lola.  Not even Nang Loding calls it a garden."

"It will be a garden again, princess."

"But how?"

"I will teach you how."

"How?"

"Come, my dear."  Grandma took Lily to a section of the beautiful garden and picked some Santans, San Franciscoes, and Birds of Paradise and handed them to the girl.

"What if they'll die, lola?"  Lily asked.

"No, they won't because you will take good care of them," grandma said as she stroked Lily's black hair.  "And if you have questions, my dear princess, you can always come back here anytime for as long as you like."

"But how?"

"Rock the wooden horse, little princess.  Rock it the way you rocked it on your way here!"

Lily laughed wryly. "That's weird, lola. But… okay, I will." 

Grandma helped her mount back on the horse, the real horse. Immediately Lily was back in the dark room, atop the wooden rocking horse.

In Lily's hand were the plants from the beautiful garden. On the floor beside the wooden rocking horse, a basket full of gardening tools; beside it, the other slipper she was looking for.

As she reached for the slipper, she noticed a small piece of paper underneath. She took it and tried to decipher the writing.

It read: "Take care of the wooden horse, little princess; it will transport you to the world of your imagination.  And plant your garden now; it will brighten up your real world." (FREEMAN)