Nona's Garden- Chapter 4
Updated: Feb 28
Offerings and Messages
It’s been a few days since the farmers market ordeal, and I felt myself again. We did end up doing the market on Sunday but strangely CherryLee farms didn’t show, even though they were scheduled to be there. Yes, I did check. Did I frighten Babyboy away? Or maybe he thought about his actions and decided to back down graciously. Who knows. He did rob me of my chance to hand out my retaliation for him basically calling me a child. But no worries, there are other ways to skin a cat… or should I say Man.
Today is a new day and I had plans… I haven’t visited DiStaff since last week so I’m thinking it’s time to swing by, drop off the donations, and take a look at things. At this point the ‘DiStaff: Mother’s with Young Children’ non-profit can run itself, but I still like to check on the company I started. I wouldn’t want to be completely neglectful.
The sun had fully come up by now and the birds seemed to be livelier than usual… their chirping and chattering were the only things I could hear as I stepped out of my sliding glass back door. They graciously drowned out any other sounds that might intrude on my usual solitude… I appreciated those sounds over car horns and speeding traffic. Especially over ambulances and police cars… like the ones from last night. Seems like someone in the cul-de-sac had quite a few of them at their house around eight pm, it sounded like quite the party. I didn’t even bother to check to see who they were here for… because I knew. Good luck Mrs. Oliver.
Today I wore a burnt orange colorful maxi dress that cut deep, exposing the skin between my size C girls beautifully, with a pair of gold goddess sandals… while my hair was now in the seventies decade, hanging free, just past my shoulders with a thin braided band around my head. I felt carefree as usual as I stepped onto my small deck that overlooked the Garden.
I noticed the large crates Nikki had piled high at the base of the stairs that led from the deck into the backyard… they were filled to compacity again with produce so fresh it could have been from the garden of Eden. I’ll have to tell Nikki to remind our ‘help’ that the crates weren’t needed again until the weekend. It was hard explaining the concept of days of the week sometimes, and he needed constant reminders.
No matter, he still deserved the offerings that I held in my hand. I stepped down the stairs balancing a large silver platter filled with gifts of coffee, honey, nuts and some tea lights. I walked toward the center of the garden where a nine-foot large statue of Nyx was located… there were smaller statues, of various heights, around her in a tight circle. I placed the bowl in front of one of the smaller statues that looked like a boy child wearing a robe and holding a horn up high.
“There you go,” I whispered kindly, as I silently sent a prayer of gratitude for all the help I was given. It was always wise to honor your help… or you’ll find yourself without it. Or worse, they could betray you.
After the prayer was finished, I sat there on my knees for awhile gazing up at Nyx’s figure in the sun light. It was always odd seeing her bathed in such brightness, being that she was the Goddess of the night, the mother of creation. But it still somehow suited her, dispite the contrast… she was, after all, perfect in my eyes. I sent another prayer of gratitude and love towards the large statue and what life it represented.
I stretched the moment out for as long as possible before I broke my reverie with a deep sigh, and scooted my body around slightly, careful not to mess up my dress, so I was sitting in front of another statue, this one was two-foot high in height, at the base of her feet. This statue was of a male and centuries old. Time for my next mission.
The statue was of a God, he was wearing nothing but a cloth cape draped over one shoulder and a helmet, not even a fig leaf to keep his modesty. In one hand he held a staff with two snakes winding their way up its length and meeting, face to face, at the top with a pair of feathered wings slightly above their heads. He had wings on both his booted feet… Hermes. He was the Greek god of messages and mischief, and I had a favor to ask of him.
At the base of Hermes is where Nikki found me 10mins later.
“Oh blessed goddess! You’re still here, I thought you’d be gone by now!” She glanced at Hermes. “Sending a message?”
“Sort of… he was the only one I could think of who can deliver a gift like I wanted to deliver, in the time I wanted to deliver it, to a place I didn’t know.” I said with a tiny shoulder shrug.
“Again, with the not knowing, you really are frightening me. Is this about the Cherry guy? You know what… never mind, I have bigger trout to fry.” She waved her hands in front of her like she was crossing out the thought. She dropped beside me, and it was then I noticed the quick breathing and tense look. It took me a moment to notice because, unless it was my fault, Nikki rarely looked or acted anything but a relaxed serious when she walked into a room. She even wore the same clothes every day, a solid brown boho style jumpsuit with matching slide on flats… she didn’t understand the need to wear anything different if you like the outfit you wore. She wouldn’t so much as smile to switch things up. She was very practical and steady like that, me not so much… I never wore the same thing twice, fickle was my nature.
“What’s wrong, Mountain Top?” I asked in my most concerned voice, even throwing in my nickname for her to show her I was paying attention.
She glanced at me like she didn’t know where to start, “It’s… the Mountain.” She said slowly. The mountain being Stone Mountain, located in Stone Mountain Georgia, two towns over… she just didn’t recognize it by a name given to it by mortals. “Something’s happened.”
With her statement the very air around us seemed to change temperature by fifteen degrees… I felt goose bumps run down my arm as I recognized the omen. My mind started to begin racing with chaotic thoughts all at once... this sign couldn’t be good.
It has been very quiet around here for the past few centuries… something was bound to pop up eventually, it was the normal part of life. To have difficulties helped you appreciate the good times. But that thought didn’t stop the dread that pooled in my stomach… did He find us after all? Did the incident over the weekend blow our cover? If it didn’t have anything to do with this, then… why now, at this moment? I’d never forgive myself if it did… I had jumped into a fight without thinking of the consequences. Only who would have thought it would have been any different than any other altercations I’ve delt with. I should check on my sisters just to make sure…
With that thought, I sent a line of energy out into the unknown, seeking the bond that held us together. Nikki understanding what I was doing without me saying anything, gave me a few moments of quiet. It only took seconds to lock down and target the familiar connection… I felt their energy and emotions, thank the goddess… they were ok. I even felt a warm return tug, letting me know they sensed my inquiry and returned the energy to see if I was also ok. Not wanting to alarm them, I sent positive vibes back. Glancing up at Nyx’s stone presence, I felt relief settle over me, and it calmed my nerves.
With my familial check complete, I returned my attention to Nikki… if my family’s ok, I could face anything. “What happened at the mountain?” I asked.
