Xara woke up one day, back when she didn't yet know she was a gardener. She thought her garden was a field, and she didn't much tend to it. So the field had some flowers in it – those that were hardy enough to grow; and it also had a lot of weeds. She liked to take walks in her field, enjoying the flowers she found. She ignored the ugly weeds, and cursed at the nasty ones that scratched her.

The weeds pestered her a bit, the nasty ones even more so. She thought that she should tend the field, from time to time, but the task seemed so much harder than the problem. She tried to pluck a weed here and there, but almost as soon as she did that, it seemed another one popped up. And the nasty ones, oh boy. They were easier to avoid.

This day though, she would find something different. In the corner of her field, she found a new flower. It was more beautiful than anything she'd seen, with vivid blossoms and mesmerizing leaves. She had seen plenty of decent enough flowers; but they were sturdy, ones that could grow among the weeds. This one... This one grew as if it was blessed with magic. Within a month, it had covered the entire field, and Xara enjoyed the view like she never did. But then... the vivid blossoms fell. The leaves withered, lost their color, and shrank into thorns. The incredible flower became a weed. A weed that now smothered the entire field it had overgrown, and made it impassable with thorns.

Xara cried, but she hadn't lost hope. She thought to herself, "Maybe it's a seasonal flower." So she waited. Seasons went by. She tried to enjoy the other flowers, which had slowly again started to grow. But nothing compared to the beauty of the mesmerizing flower that had turned her field into a thorn labyrinth. She waited in sadness, as the remains petrified. The magical flower would not grow.

She talked to her neighbors about the mystical flower. Some of them had also just noticed the flower in their fields, and had no idea why and how. Some of them had seen the flower also overgrow their fields and turn into weed, and were sad about it like she was. Some had never seen this flower, and thought she was insane when she described it. But none of them knew how to help.

There was word of a sage; a sage that lived on the outskirts, and knew about many things. Xara visited the sage, and explained what happened in her field.

The sage nodded. "Xara, your problem is clear."

"It is?" she wondered.

"You see, Xara, your problem comes from the topsoil. From where do the weeds grow?"

"Well, from the soil," Xara affirmed.

"Indeed. And where do the flowers grow?" he inquired.

"Well... also the soil."

"You see therefore, that as long as there is topsoil, there will be flowers, as well as weeds."

Xara thought. "Well... I guess... probably."

"Tell me. Have you ever dug under the soil?"

She would have liked him explain about the magical flower; but she did not dare ask. "I... have not."

"Then you have not seen what's under the soil. Do you want to know what's under it?"

"I... do," she replied timidly.

"Under the soil is bedrock." The sage paused, then proceeded ponderously. "Your field has these things happening in it – the small flowers, the small weeds; the magical flower, and now the encroaching weed – all because of the topsoil. You are attached to the flowers that grow from topsoil. But with flowers come also the weeds."

Xara began to see his point. The sage continued.

"Look how impermanent the flowers are. They grow, they blossom, they die. How can you find lasting joy in something so ephemeral?"

"Hmm," she pondered.

"Stillness is found in removing the soil. Then no flowers will grow, and neither will weeds. When you look out on your field, you will see the bedrock; permanent and unchangeable. This is beyond flower and weed. It is emptiness. It is stillness."

Xara thanked the sage for advice, and returned to her field. She pondered his words, and decided. She's going to remove the topsoil. There was a lot of it, so removing it took a long time.


At long last, the soil was gone from her field. The weeds and the flowers kept trying to grow as long as there was still something to grow in. But now the bedrock was exposed, as far as the eye could reach.

She knew that, even so, there was soil in the pockets and cracks. Plants were hardy, and could take root there. No matter; she removed them, she washed out the cracks, and the bedrock was bare. There were no flowers or weeds apart from this, but there was beauty in the rockscape. It had colorful gradients. It appeared still and permanent. Within timelessness, rain would fall. Puddles would form, and evaporate.

Xara forgot about the magical flower that had turned to weed. Hers was now a very different field.


Years later, a new neighbor moved in nearby. Xara paid him a visit.

"Howdy there, neighbor. How is your field?"

"It could be worse," the neighbor said. "It wasn't maintained when I got here. But I'm going to tend to it."

"You're going to tend to it?" Xara was puzzled. The very idea seemed silly. She remembered how ineffective it was, back when her field had topsoil, trying to remove the weeds. So much work, for so little reward. Now that she had bedrock, maintenance was easy.

"Oh, yeah," quipped the neighbor. "No problem at all. I have the tools."

Xara told him about removing topsoil from the field, and how much easier it made things. The neighbor nodded. He said, "Sure, some people prefer that. I suppose there is beauty in it." He didn't seem interested more, so she didn't push it.

A couple months later, Xara visited again. "Howdy, neighbor. How's your field?" She wondered if had given up on tending yet. Should she tell him again about removing topsoil from the field?

"Well, it's not a field any more! It's a garden. Do you want to come see?"

Xara was incredulous, but curiosity got the better of her. She followed the neighbor to his garden. It was incredible! Flowers everywhere; arranged in these beautiful shapes –

"This... is amazing," she said. "But don't you feel sad when they die?"

He chuckled. "It's natural for them to die. But then they grow again!"

She followed him on paths between flowers, beautifully arranged. And there - in the center - there was the mystical flower she'd seen, with the vivid blossoms she once wanted to see again so badly.

"This one..." She pointed, with her mouth agape.

"Ah yes, that's a beauty. Requires real special care. If I don't add nutrients to the soil every day, it uses what's in there, then overgrows everything looking for more, and when that runs out, turns to weed. Amazingly colorful though, isn't it? I have a sprinkler system here, for the enriched water it needs."


A few months from then, Xara had put the soil back in her garden. She learned that tending it is not as difficult as she thought it would be. It is different, certainly. There's lots to do, compared to the barren rockscape. But she learned from the neighbor to treat the work like it's fun, and just do it consistently. Day in and day out, her garden grew nicer and better, and she found great joy in this. She made room for all of the flowers. She found that some of the weeds are actually flowers too. The nasty ones especially! She put them off the path, so they wouldn't scratch. She enjoyed seeing them blossom in the spring.

And the mystical flower, it came back. Xara's smile was as wide as her face when she found it. And this time, she knew exactly how to tend to it.