Shiro's Little Garden

The sun was rising little by little from the east side as the gentle rays slowly penetrated the little idyllic stream. Shiro stopped what he was doing for a short while as his gaze looked up.

Since the area Mom chose was in between the starting line of the thick canopy-like large trees and the stream, Shiro only needed to clear a few giant-sized trees to make a somewhat rectangular-shaped clear area, devoid of large stones and tree roots. He observed the hardworking little snake at the side, toiling hard to pull off an especially stubborn gigantic root and shook his head.

His new 'brother' fondness towards their Mom puzzled him immensely. It was bordering on obsession. He was helpless to be the object of envy by the snake when Mom favored him a little too much. Meanwhile, their mom was dipping her toes into the cold stream while teasing the little yellow bird with black speckled underbelly. However, her hands did not stop from making long bamboo strips using his claw as a cutting tool. Seeing how Mom liked her new knife so much, Shiro felt extremely pleased. He really did the right thing back then. Never once did he ever regret parting with his claw. Moreover, he still had nine others.

After Shiro had cut down the bark of the trees into several long three metered stakes, he started loading them bit by bit on his antlers and placed them at one side of the cleared area. He knew what must be done after this as he had seen it in his mind when Mom explained before. These stakes will be used as a barrier surrounding the new patch of cleared land. However, he needed Mom's help to prop up the long stake upright while his brother, Kuro needed to push down from the top.

[Mom, Kuro, I'm done over here.] Shiro called the others telepathically to come over and help with the barrier installation.

Both Kuro and Hana came over to help placed the first stake. The little yellow bird had made herself at home on Hana's head. It seemed like they had become bosom friends from the short interaction. Shiro lamented on Mom's lack of vigilance again. That was one of his biggest concern, apart from Mom being too weak. One day, it can cost her life. No wonder the bird gave her the mind clearing spirit fruit. Regardless, he vowed that he will be there to help Mom in times of need if one day someone dared to hurt her.

Shiro stepped aside while letting Mom propped up the first stake. She had become slightly breathless from it. The stake was only as thick as Mom's calf. It shouldn't be that heavy right?

As Kuro pounded the sharpened tip of the stake inwards by jumping once, Mom stopped him when the stake's height was reduced from three meters to about two meters. Just like this, the duo repeated their action systematically throughout the whole perimeter of the cleared land. The stakes were embeddened with a gap of about three to four inches to each other. Shiro was a bit perplexed with the gap between each stake. Won't little animals enter? Before he could even ask, Mom had answered to explain, "The gap will be compensated with the bamboo strips. After this I'll weave the strips in between the stakes. So, you don't have to cut so much trees anymore." She ruffled Shiro's head dotingly.

Both brothers (plus one bird) were reduced to speechlessness.

[There was something wrong with Mom's way of thinking!] Cutting more trees were easy peasy for Shiro. He didn't even need to expend more than a drop of his strength. Whereas, the weavings in between the stakes will be extremely laborious for Mom. Again, Mom must have forgotten about their prowess as she was trying to lighten their burden as usual. Her good intention was unnecessary, although it did touch Shiro's heart.

[Mom! No need to add burden to yourself. You should've explained why you're making so much bamboo strips again just now.] Kuro's word resounded in their minds. Shiro didn't know whether to laugh or to cry with Mom's selflessness. She was too nice. She's treating them as helpless little lambs though she already knew how strong they could be. There's no need for her to work so hard making the long bamboo strips. She could've just laze around and play with the bird rather than tiring herself for no apparent reason.

Blushing deeply, Mom acquiesced their imploration and let Shiro cut more trees to fill in the gap with the appropriate sized stakes. She closed her face with both of her hands to hide the embarrassed look she was having. Both of the boys were laughing in their heart with their mom's cuteness. Shiro shook his head while smiling before continuing his work.

...

Hana desperately wanted to burrow her head into a hole somewhere from embarrassment! She blamed on a traditional gardening video she coincidentally watched once upon a time ago. The traditional fences were made with bamboo poles and weaved with bamboo strips. She suddenly realized that the guy who made the fence was lacking raw materials. She had taken the information at face value.

After Shiro finished cutting the trees into stakes, again, they added more stakes to fill in between the gaps surrounding the cleared land area while leaving a single one-meter gap facing the stream for a gate. Using the leftover bamboos from the bamboo strip making, Hana crafted a simple door by making holes on the sides of the two outermost stakes framing the gap using her favorite knife and slotted in horizontal bamboo poles in between the holes. With the adhoc design, the 'gate' will function just like a sliding door made from bamboos. There was no need for latch or locks. A slide was all it needs to open the gate.

Once the gate was done, they entered the compound and started to condition the upturned soil into tidy fluffed soil for future plantation. Of course, the boys did all that by themselves while being monitored by Hana. Although she still has the chisel meant for agriculture, she knew she was too incompetent. Adding her up will only slow down the speed of work.

While the boys were working hard, Hana squatted down and burrowed her hand into the black crumbly soil. It was naturally rich in compost and full of cute fat worms tangling together with dried withered leaves. She had read about the conditions suitable to grow plants, and the loamy soil in her hands held all the necessary characteristics; loose, porous and full of nutrients. Since the location of this garden was very near to the stream with the addition of Shiro clearing up the large trees blocking the sun, the little garden got ample of sunlight.

Hana was thankful to God for all of these positive factors. She walked to a corner of the garden nearest to the gate and fished for the pith of the delicious Bidara fruit she ate that morning. Under the gazes of her two pets, she used her bare hand to make small hole and placed the pith inside. After covering the top part of the hole with some soil, she arranged several tiny stones in a circle to mark the location of the bidara pith.

"This will be our first tree. Hope it could grow big and strong!" She exclaimed positively.

After that, Hana went all over the place and transplanted a number of herb trees she thought to be useful not far from the first spot happily.

By afternoon, she observed her handiwork happily, "Garlic trees, turmeric trees, green onions, ginger, vietnamese mint, selom, wild taro trees. This location is a real wonder!" She praised her treasured garden with a smile. She had found a new objective this time. When she found more herb trees later, she would transplant them immediately. Like this, once she needed something, she didn't have to search high and low again.

...

The little family stopped working around noon. Kuro and Shiro started to laze around under the shade of a tree, a moment's relief from the harsh sun, as they observed their mistress busily grilling marinated catfishes over a small fire she expertly made not too long ago. Hana adamantly said she wanted to have a picnic by the stream as she proudly showed her salt-turmeric paste combo she brought along with a grin. The kids fetched seven fishes for her as she laughed with their absurdity. They looked so greedy until it was almost too cute! From the beginning until the end, the little yellow bird didn't fly away. Instead it stayed faithfully either on top of Hana's head or on her shoulders, curious with every single thing she did.

Hana used her new kitchen knife to gut the fishes and cleaned them by the stream before slathering them with the salt-turmeric paste. It was so easy when a good knife was in your hand! She only took a short ten minutes to process everything before she started grilling while gloating in delight. Hana was an expert in finding an excuse to be happy amidst sorrow, a seeker of silver linings. That was one of the reasons why this aunty could be so full of positive vibes all the time.

Once the grilled fishes were done, the kids scurried over with a fawning face to receive their due rewards. As usual, Hana plated three fishes on clean sheets of banana leaves each while she took only one for herself. She tried to offer some to her bird friend, but it refused vehemently. Not feeling disheartened with the bird's action, she planned to give it something else once they return to their cave dwelling. [Markisah must be a hardcore vegan.] She shrugged and started eating.

While nibbling on the fish, Hana said, "Shiro, you'll be in charge of this little garden from today onwards."

Perking his ears up happily, the adorable fox nodded.

Suddenly he paused and thought worriedly, [Err..do I need to plant trees then?]

He looked at his two paws and pondered. It seemed that he needed to be able to utilize his front paws just like Hana did it.

Should he practice walking with his two hind legs after this?

…

Author's Note:

(1) "Garlic trees, turmeric trees, green onions, ginger, vietnamese mint, selom, wild taro trees" = these are names of local herbs. You might've known some of them.