Gardening

I went back to Mrs. Pyke, who was waiting for me with the impatience of someone who hadn’t spoken to anyone in a week. She led me into the garden and asked me to restore “a bit of order to this jungle”. There is quite a bit of work, with the rose bushes collapsing, the ivy invading the walls and insidiously making its way through a badly-placed window, the lawn needs cutting and the weeds have come back… I went to see my peony again. There are only two flowers left, pale and dishevelled, with its rusty petals strewn over the ground.