Story: Gwendolyn and the Garden

Gwendolyn crept around the fence, pushed her thick brown hair out of her face, and slowly opened the garden gate. She had just turned thirteen and was determined to be independent. Granny Ronni had always been a family friend, so she didn’t want to disrupt anything. She just wanted a few tomatoes to try for her new salsa recipe. And Granny Ronni’s looked so juicy and plump that they could practically fall off the vine by themselves. Gwen closed the gate behind her and checked again that all the lights in Granny’s house were off, it was mid-afternoon and not the most discreet time to sneak around but Granny was supposed to be gone. 

Granny Ronni's Garden

Gwen had grown up next door to Granny Ronni’s house, and had seen Jonathon and his little stuffed polar bear slowly growing up. Granny Ronni had been there when she had broken her arm from riding her bike, when she had graduated from eighth grade, and when her first boyfriend, Tom, had broken up with her. Granny Ronni had always taught her right from wrong and she knew stealing from Granny Ronni would be wrong. But Gwen hoped that she wouldn’t miss a few tomatoes, and a few jalapenos now that Gwen could see them wedged between lettuce leaves. Granny had always said that she would help Gwen with anything she needed, but the garden had been off limits as she had grown up because Granny kept several poisonous plants and didn't want anyone to get hurt.

Gwen started to gather the tomatoes and place them into her shirt when she heard a young boy behind her.

“Gwen, what are you doing with Granny’s tomatoes?” Gwen whipped around to see Jonathon standing in the garden with his polar bear, Mr. Sniffles… Piffles… something.

“Oh, hey Jonathon, what are you doing here? I thought Granny Ronni was out for the day...?” Gwen wanted to find out if she was about to get in big trouble or not.

“Granny’s at the supermarket getting food for Mr. Piddles and me.” Piddles! Mr. Piddles! How could she have forgotten such a ridiculous name? Jonathon began to talk to the polar bear while Gwen tried to think of her exit plan.

“Uh huh, well, Granny Ronni told me this morning that I could borrow a few of her tomatoes for salsa I am making! So I’ll just be on my way now!” Gwen started to walk towards the gate when she heard another voice join them in the garden.

“Gwendolyn, what a nice surprise! I didn’t know you would be coming over today.” Gwen slowly turned around, afraid to see the body attached to the voice that had spoken.

“Heeeyyy…. Granny Ronni… I didn’t know you were going to be here this afternoon. I just wanted to stop and say hello to Jonathon and Mr. Piddles! It looks like your garden is doing very well this season. Well, I have to go now! My parents will start to worry if I’m nowhere to be found!” Gwen hurried over to the gate when Granny spoke again.

“It looks like you have some of my tomatoes with you there, Gwen. Have you forgotten something?” Granny Ronni was now standing with her arms crossed. Gwen had been caught.

“I’m really sorry, Granny, but they looked so juicy and… and… I’m making a salsa, so how could I not want to use the best ingredients? I’m really really super duper sorry. I just couldn’t help myself.” Gwen put the tomatoes in a small bucket by Granny Ronni’s back door.

“It’s okay, Gwen, I never mind someone using my vegetables to make delicious food! But make sure you ask permission next time. Perhaps I had been planning to make salsa with those juicy tomatoes?” Granny was smiling so Gwen knew she wouldn’t get yelled at. Jonathon and Mr. Piddles were eagerly nodding, probably hoping that Granny was going to make the aforementioned salsa for them to eat. “We each have a duty to do good, and as soon as we stop doing that we lose a little piece of ourselves. Gwen, we are on a very slippery slope. Just remember that stealing is never a good idea, okay?”

“Yes, Granny Ronni!” Gwen was relieved that she was free to go and decided to never steal again.

“How about we go make that salsa for Jonathon and Mr. Piddles to try?” Granny had also noticed the young boy’s attentiveness.

“Of course!” Gwen, Jonathon, Mr. Piddles, and Granny walked into Granny’s house and made a wonderful batch of salsa for all of them to enjoy!

Author's Note: 

This week I learned more about Vishnu’s Seven Secrets by Devdutt Pattanaik, particularly focusing on dharma and adharma. Dharma is all that is natural and good in the world, whereas adharma is the antithesis of this concept. I wasn’t originally sure how I was going to fit these concepts into a story with Jonathon and Mr. Piddles, but then I thought about including a next-door neighbor! I thought that showing how stealing and lying were adharma, with a gentle reminder at the end, it could play off of Vishnu’s Secrets concepts. Although I didn’t set out to make this story have a moral, it made more sense to end with a moral and not try to fit the actual Indian cultural words throughout my story. Although I may have Jonathon and Mr. Piddles end their adventures with Hanuman and traveling to India to learn something new for my final story! I have enjoyed watching the videos on Vishnu’s Seven Secrets and may watch another set of videos for the last few weeks of assignments.