Blessed are the Burdened: Chapter 1 – Another Day of Earthly Paradise

Chapter 1 – Another Day of Earthly Paradise

The birds sing their morning song to wake me up and let me know that a new, wonderful day has begun. After stretching and saying my morning prayers, I look out the window to watch my neighbors do the same and wish me and others a good morning. A benefit of living in Matias is that most of us wood elves live in the same tree with very few people living below us. Most of the buildings below are inns and places of trade for travelers and foreigners since most business and work are done in the trees. It always amazes me to look up at these trees that are as big as mountains and seem to touch the clouds.

I breathe in the fresh air that is cool and smells of sweet flowers, vegetables, and fruits, and then go back into my room to get dressed and fix my messy hair. Many of the clothes in my wardrobe are made of various kinds of thick leaves while a few are made of leather and fur from the animals of Matias, which I only take out for special dinners and celebrations. Ultimately, I choose to wear a green shawl, sleeves, thigh-high boots, and a dark green corset and skirt. I fix up my hair around my antlers so it looks proper and put three flowers in it, one that’s pink, one that’s red, and another that’s blue.

“Ivana, are you ready yet? Breakfast is ready,” my mother says from downstairs.

“Coming!” I say before running to the kitchen.

My father and mother are already sitting at the breakfast table with everything laid out. We have coffee and orange juice to drink and eggs, chicken, and sausages to eat. My mother and father are wearing a similar outfit to mine though my father’s brown skin is lighter than my mother’s and his green, brown, and gold eyes aren’t shining like mine are, probably the result of work. I sit down, say grace, and then dig in.

“How’s work been?” I ask my father.

“The same as it always is in that it’s filled with many annoyances and few things go right,” he says. “What handling the business side of our farms and gardens and being out in the world has taught me is that there are only two kinds of people; those who are underpaid, underappreciated, and overworked and those who are overpaid, overloved, and lazy.”

“That’s something that you always say and why I’ll never take over that part of the business.”

“Your older brother and sister did despite saying the same thing when they were your age, but they eventually owned up to their legacy, so I wouldn’t speak too fast if I were you.”

“I don’t know,” my mother says. “Maybe she’ll take after me instead. She does have a great love for tending the gardens like I do.”

“Yeah, but she probably won’t teach the servants like you do and will just be one her whole life. At this rate, I expect her younger brother to be in charge faster than she will,” my father says while rubbing my mother’s pregnant belly.

“Don’t say that about your daughter.”

“I meant no offense by it, excuse me if I did. Being out in the world can make you colder without realizing it, so I’m glad I’m home in Matias and will be for the foreseeable future.”

My mother and I tell my father how we’re glad to have him back and then talk about today’s duties and the status of our farms and gardens, which are all doing well. Going out for work with my mother, we descend the tree and head to one of the landings on it where one of the gardens is and start getting to work. I start by watering the plants by taking water from the flowing river that goes throughout the tree and bringing them to the plants back and forth for a while until I decide to take a breather and look out at the sight of the garden and the many nearby gardens and farms on the neighboring trees. It’s always a sight that I can’t get enough of, especially after learning in school that this entire area used to be filled with towers of metal and stone that reached the sky until a miraculous event changed it into what it is today and turned the people here into wood elves. Seeing the many platforms on the trees that hold churches, farms, gardens, and even entire towns is truly something that can be found nowhere else.

These wonders and the many natural beauties here are why Matias is well known for its produce that is sent out worldwide. We are even known for our leather, meats, and other products from the animals here, though we don’t create those at my family’s farms and gardens. Even though I know how to fight with a basic bow and dagger, I’m not that good at hunting and wouldn’t want to get in a fight or be in a situation where I would need to hunt for food anyway. All I want is this and everything around me. If I were to do nothing but take care of the gardens and see my loved ones day in and out for the next hundred years of my life, I would be fine with that since the peace that this life gives me is Heaven on earth.

After finishing appreciating the sights, saying my prayers of thanks, taking care of the flowers, and planting new ones, I move to take care of the fruit next. In this section of the garden, I see two of my friends, Oshry and Ziv, who are going about their daily tasks picking fruits, throwing away rotten ones, and taking care of the plants. They’re dressed in outfits similar to mine made of various colored leaves but don’t have flowers in their hair and seem to be working hard because of how much sweat I see on their faces. Despite their tiredness, they look up at me, smile, and wave as if they aren’t tired at all when they see me coming to them.

“Hi, Ivana! I was wondering where you were,” Ziv says.

“You know exactly where she was. You were sightseeing and slowly enjoying today’s work again, right?” Oshry says.

“Haha, you’re right. I plead guilty,” I say.

“I wish I could do that in the way your mother taught us,” Oshry says. “The rush to meet demands and all the work that needs to be done makes it hard to do.”

“You have to take it easier, but he’s right. We don’t want to disappoint our customers and your parents even though we know that they wouldn’t mind if we accomplish everything today.”

“Trust me, my parents wouldn’t mind hiring more people to get help if we were behind in work. Our demand and the buyers we sell to cover the cost and then some.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Speaking of help, would you mind lending us a hand after you drop off that fruit basket? It’s fine if you don’t.”

I think about it for a second before saying, “Sorry, but I can’t. I’ll try asking my mother to send you help though.”

Oshry is silent for a second and then is thankful and understanding of what I say while Ziv is completely fine with it. Ziv’s always been the one who works without complaining. In a way, she’s like me and my mother. On the other hand, Oshry always wants to do more, kind of like my father. I drop off the fruit basket to the transporters at the center of the tree where carriages of horses and animals of burden bring products and materials from all over the tree and the ground below to be transported up or down. Going to my mother who is instructing our workers and picking tomatoes, I ask her if she can send help to my friends.

She gives me a gentle smile and says, “You do know that you can help them, right? I can always find someone else to do what you are.”

“No, it’s fine. I’d rather complete my assigned duty so that no one else has to pick up for me. Either way, someone is getting reassigned to help out someplace else,” I say.

“You’re right. I’ll send two workers out to help Oshry and Ziv once they’re done here.”

“Thank you, mother!”

I go back to my gardening duties then take my lunch not long after in a part of a tree that’s a lunch hall where the workers are being served the produce they’ve picked, various kinds of meats from the area, and water from the flowing river in the tree. There is also a separate area where the river is diverged to create a bath for people to wash up and relax. After finishing, I come across Oshry and Ziv who thank me for sending help their way.

“We’d like it if you helped out as well to get more done to be better prepared for tomorrow,” Oshry adds.

“It’ll only take me a few more hours to get my duties done for the day. Once I’m done, I’ll help you out. How’s that sound?” I suggest.

“Umm, fair.”

“Don’t rush yourself though. We’re doing fine and are progressing on schedule,” Ziv mentions.

Oshry rolls his eyes, takes a bite of his sandwich, and then says, “We could always do more than be on schedule. I’d like not to rush in the morning to catch up previous work and to take it easier throughout the day.”

“You’re the only one rushing yourself. As it’s said, a man’s worst judge is himself.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I say goodbye to my friends and head back to work watering, planting, removing rotten and dead plants, and picking flowers, fruits, and vegetables. While I work, I take a few minute breathers in between and talk to my fellow coworkers who pass by or work in the same area. Later on, my eyes finally notice that the sun is setting and the day is done. Rushing over to where Oshry and Ziv are, I see that they’re nearly done.

“Fashionably late as always, Ivana,” Oshry says.

“I’m sorry. Is there anything that needs to be done?” I ask.

 “Not much that we can’t handle. Don’t mind Oshry. He’s just irritable as always,” Ziv says.

“Alright, you’re right. We’ll be done in a few minutes and on time, but we’ll have to worry about getting the baskets set up and the rest of the spoiled produce thrown away tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s work is called what it is for a reason.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Okay. If you’re good, then I better go help my parents will tonight’s dinner. Thank you for your help as always,” I say while walking away and waving.

Ziv waves back with a smile while saying bye. At the same time, Oshry does the same, but his smile is a bit forced. Next time, I’ll try helping them so they don’t have to work so hard and get to spend more time with them. I only get to hang out with them on the weekends when we visit different restaurants, go for animal riding and flying, and sightseeing, and to be honest, I never really help them out beyond getting my mother to send them help. Tomorrow, I will put aside my wants to help them. This I promise to do for sure.

When I get home, I help my mother prepare dinner while talking to my parents about how my day was, which is just the same as every day and not something that I complain about at all. It’s something that my father misses and talks about it as if it’s the best thing ever.

He says, “Working with my hands is so stress-relieving and fun that it makes me never want to step foot in an office or a meeting room in a foreign kingdom ever again.”

My father then rambles on about current events and what’s wrong with the world while my mother and I laugh, listen, and respond so he feels like everything he says isn’t just going over our heads. Dinner is now prepared and is comprised of beef, pasta, salad, and a side of salami and cheeses for seconds. Once we’re done, we head out to relax, sit on the porch, and watch the starry night sky in silence. Not much time passes before the nightly fireworks that are set off by mages from all over the world light up the sky as a way to celebrate the fruits of today’s work and happily end it. This is truly Heaven on earth for me and I don’t mind if this is how it will be for the rest of my life. I will never stop thanking God for it and never stop thinking of it as such.