CN-276 : Communal Garden (Writing)

Coriander carefully peered around a bush that was just off the side of a path. Soon deeming the coast to be clear of any other passersby, she gently stepped onto the forest’s walkway, her beloved poosum, Alpine, following close behind. Cori had recently heard of an up-and-coming communal garden that was set up in a nearby town, a garden that she was on her way to right now. She was always extremely weary of other Faians for.. several reasons, but seeing that it was now her favorite season, she thought she’d make an exception to her rule of only going to a village once a month by momentarily helping with the garden. Her love of the flora wouldn’t be stopped by her anxieties revolving around others, and besides, she had one of her critters with her, so that would surely keep her collected in case anything were to arise.

Additionally, Coriander decided to head out before the sun had even begun to rise. This decision wasn’t just so she could avoid possible interactions, but also so she wouldn’t be subjected to the bright morning sunlight, a thing she was particularly sensitive to.

As the noodle got closer to the established destination, worries about an encounter with someone else began to fill her head. Cori stopped near dead in her tracks when her mind began to touch on the topic more, feeling all but a sinking sense of dread. It seemed like her poosum had started to sense the adverse feelings plaguing Coriander, seeing that Alpine soon would rub themself up against her, almost like how a dog would ‘hug’ a person. Feeling the soft and silky hide of her furry companion, Coriander took a breath and sat in the path for a moment, letting herself decompress under the strain that her thoughts put her through. She heard various sounds of nature: birds chirping, little rodent-like creatures scurrying up a tree, bonbuns happily skipping through the grass..

After a while, Coriander got back up and continued on the route. At last, she found herself at the communal garden, thankfully nobody else in sight. She began unpacking the satchel fitted on her waist, meanwhile Alpine was exploring the garden. Cori perked up upon hearing a small squeak from her poosum, who seemed to have found a suitable spot for the teal noodle to plant her supplies. Her suspicions were correct; her eyes now having quickly scanned the garden’s layout for Alpine, she spotted her critter standing on a wooden garden bed. Not in the soil of course, Alpine would’ve never let their perfectly spotless paws get dirty, but just on the ledge of the wood that encapsulated the soil.

Cori made her way to the bed, some seeds carried in her mouth meanwhile others were haphazardly stuffed back into the satchel. She dumped the contents of the carrier out onto a nearby glass table, illuminated solely by a nearby dim lantern and the slowly but surely rising sun. Over the course of the next thirty or so minutes, Cori had begun to plant various articles of greenery, both her personal favorites and ones she thought would help out the general public. From fruits to flowers to simply seeds that may blossom into an appealing piece of vegetation, she’d gone through over half of the supplies she brought by the time she filled nearly the entire garden bed.

Her work wasn’t quite done yet though, as she had just a bit more work to do. Cori strolled around the garden site for a bit in search of a watering can, an item that strangely enough, just couldn’t be located. Thankfully, she ended up finding it, albeit tucked away in an unassuming and rickety shed. Bringing the can out and delicately filling it with water, she doused the newly-planted seeds in the liquid. She didn’t only do this routine for the ones she planted, as she carried out the same for other plants in the communal garden.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if she had lost the time, for before she knew it, the morning was fast approaching. Mildly startled by this realization, Coriander hurriedly gathered up the remaining (and somewhat scattered) supplies she brought, packing it back into her satchel and calling out to her fluffy critter, who went back to her side at a similarly fast pace.

With that, Coriander’s work was done at the garden, the noodle now heading back into the forest, and by-proxy, to her cottage, which was effortlessly concealed in the forest. While retreating, she thought to herself about possibly coming back one day. After all, it wasn’t that bad of an experience. Debating back-and-forth with herself, Cori settled on revisiting the garden again, possibly doing so in a few weeks. She’ll need to check back on her plants again, so why not?