The Keeper of The Forest
We went away from nature to build a city of concrete jungles. And when everything feels too much, we go back to nature to escape the city. Follow the path of the Gardener and the struggle between nature and technology.
The Digital Map
The gardener falls asleep on the train. Having ruminated about everything that isn't really important, the gardener is exhausted and falls asleep, only to be awakened by the train’s broadcasting system, notifying the train's last stop.
The gardener steps off the train and looks at the Gardener's phone. The network is full but nobody calls. The gardener waits for this one important call. It's impossible to call the salesperson back as the gardener has tried, it just didn't connect anywhere. Without this salesperson, the gardener has no idea what to do. Time is running out, if the salesperson does not call soon, the gardener's journey will definitely fail...
The Quiet Life
The sound of a train nearby rumbles the old table as the gardener does the usual morning tea ritual. Carefully warming the teapot before pouring hot water into the silver needle tea, The gardener takes time to ensure each step is completed well.
The Kintsugi cup shows its wear, a sign that the cup was a silent listener of a thousand silent stories. A kind of story that one could only feel, but not hear.
The gardener likes to sit down by the small garden in the late afternoon, reflecting on everything that has been and equally ruminating about what will be.
For thousands of days, life is simple. That is, until The gardener reads the newspaper that day.
The Concrete Jungle
As with any civilization out there, we humans seem to have the need to control everything. We strive for new things that could make our lives easier, only to forget that we are nothing but a speck in the eyes of the Universe.
From industrialization to digitization, everything is built in the name of speed. Faster ramen, faster transportation, faster access to information, instant advertisements. We crave entertainment as an escape from the real world, allowing us to create a tiny world where we feel safe from the world that is ever-expanding.
The forest is about to be destroyed to give room to a mall, The gardener read. Blasphemy! How dare humans! Why would we turn the forest into a concrete jungle for the sake of convenience? Who needs fast food, or nice aesthetic cafes, or retail stores, or cinemas, or the new phone, or the new makeup trends, right?
But right and wrong are never wrong and right. Ever changing like the waves in the sea, submitting itself to the moon.
It shall not be done, thinks the gardener. The gardener's resolution is clear. The gardener would launch a protest at the city council, even if The gardener is alone.
The Friend
"Ohayo Ossan!" A calm, friendly voice comes from the living room. The gardener's friend who has been helping maintain life, was coming with plenty of things that are essential for the gardener.
Things like essential oil, fertilizer, and a small garden fork. The gardener somehow keeps breaking the sturdy garden fork. One can only imagine several scenarios it could break because it was built for last. It confused the friend as well but nevertheless, the friend bought it again, and again, and again.
"I'm going on a strike!" The gardener said, mumbling about how the city council shouldn't have made the decision to erase part of the map and replace it with something pleasing only in the name of capitalism. The gardener walked slowly to the dressing room, looking for that sakura and shellfish pattern shirt that The gardener loves so much.
"Ossan, but protesting is such a tedious process," The friend said. The gardener didn’t budge.
"You will get tired," The friend said. The gardener still does not budge.
"Ossan, I'm leaving to another town..." The friend said, this time, for sure it took The gardener's attention. Leave is a strong word that the gardener has not heard for years. Is it because of the protest? Is it because of the grumpiness of the gardener? Or perhaps because of the broken garden fork? Because the gardener promised would not break it again.
"I'm leaving because my spouse just got a promotion in another city, Ossan," Said the friend with a smile. The gardener has heard about the plans that the friend will leave, but it can't be this fast. Perhaps next month, or the next two years. Who would buy the gardener a new garden fork then?
But it wasn’t something that the gardener can control, and it shouldn't either. Everyone deserved happiness, and moving to another city would surely make the friend happy.
It's inevitable in life, isn't it? That someone you dear would part away. Sometimes it's them, sometimes it's you. Nevertheless, it's a parting. They said the good memories would last, and the bad eventually wash away over time.
And so, the gardener took time for one last tea ceremony with the friend. Reminiscing all the happy and the not-so-happy memories that turn into laughing matter. A good time indeed.
There went the friend, the one that accompanied The gardener for some time. The last wave sent the friend into a happier version of the Universe. Never know if they would ever meet again.
With the friend gone, the gardener became convinced it was impossible to do the protest. After all, it would be too much hassle to take care of a house and protest at the same time. It would be the same as doing dishes while cooking. Surely it's impossible?
That's it. That's the end of the forest. The gardener must give up the forest. It's not the Gardener's in the first place. The forest is nobody to own.
The Reminder
It's nice to be alone, but it’s also nice not to be alone, the gardener thinks. A companion is always a nice thing to have. If only the gardener had a companion. It could be anything–a person, a bird, a rock.
There's this weird-colored rock in the garden that the gardener has been eyeing for a long time. A kind of rock that doesn't really belong with the others. A grey, oval-shaped rock in the middle of boring white rocks.
Hey, why not be friends with the grey rock? The gardener thinks, picking it up and placing it on the chair next to the gardener.
Funny Grey Rock, the gardener thinks. It's been there for so long, through rain or shine, and yet it still insists on being a Grey Rock. How could that be? To stand against the time. To be so stubborn, to resist its own destiny set by other rocks. If only life were that simple, the gardener thinks.
To be against what is predestined.
That's it! The gardener jumps from the chair. A revelation, a light bulb on top of the gardener's head. The city might decide the fate of the forest, and there's nothing the gardener can do about it. It's out of the gardener's control. But there is something that the gardener can control. To build a garden in the forest so beautiful, in the hope that the city council changes its mind!
All that is needed are two things: time and transport. Wonder with all the technologies humans make, why isn't there a teleportation yet the gardener thinks?
As for the time, perhaps the gardener can convince the city council to delay it. Just for a few weeks or months, the gardener thinks.
Barge through the living room, straight to the storage where the gardener put the treasure box filled with everything one can imagine. An old note, a picture of two armchair sofas next to a fireplace, a postcard, a box with many sticky notes, an empty vial, a phone!
The First Step
Smartphones are something like butter nowadays. Everybody has one, or two, or the best they said. But not the gardener. The Gardener owns an old phone, the one that the famous snake game was invented. Old school for sure, but durable enough to outlast most marriages.
The gardener turns on the phone, finds the city council’s number in the yellow pages, and dials. A lady answers.
"Patch me through the Kyoto district," the Gardener says. No answer from the lady.
"Please patch me through the Kyoto district, this is important" pleads the gardener. Still, no answer.
Until suddenly there's an answer. A flat voice instructing the gardener to press nine. But once pressed, the lady instructed the gardener to press two. And then five. And then three. And it is still not patched through the city council!
The gardener was frustrated by the call. The lady keeps repeating everything with a flat voice as if she's a robot. It's impossible, the gardener thinks, to talk with someone with little respect like that. The gardener ends the call, takes the beige bag and fills it with some snacks and other sustenance, determined to start the journey to the forest.
It's been many, many years since the gardener visited the Forest. In fact, It's been years since the gardener went more than a few miles. Everything is in close reach at this age. Strawberry milk, Koko crunch, and Sakura noodles are all but within walking distance.
It would be a long journey to the Forest, but the way to the forest would still be the same, the gardener believes. It would be a straightforward journey, just like old times.
The gardener walks by the porch to start the journey, only to be interrupted by a phone call. Could it be the city council? That was fast, the gardener thinks. But no, it's not the city council.
It's an old friend if you can say so. There's this person who has been calling the gardener for years, asking many things about the gardener. Full name, late spouse's name, even mother's maiden name! What a nuisance the gardener thinks! What an odd friend. The gardener never gives it though, always giving a false name. Must be a salesperson trying to sell something!
The salesperson would stop for a while before calling again and asking the same question. It might have been years since the salesperson's last call before the gardener got really annoyed and decided to turn off the phone and put it in the Treasure Box.
"Listen, I am busy now, I need to go to the forest," The gardener said and explained the journey to save the forest.
The salesperson, on the other hand, was dumbfounded by the naivety of the gardener. The salesperson explained that it's practically impossible to change the city council decision, once it had been made. However, explaining it to the gardener wouldn't change the gardener's decision to go to the forest though. At least the Salesman understands the gardener that much.
"Very well, I'll call you another time," said the salesperson before hanging up the phone.
All packed–money clips, water bottle, some snacks, that’s it! “To the forest we go,” said the gardener.
The Technology
It seems easy when we dream of something. As humans, we tend to oversimplify things. Maybe it's a psychological thing? Maybe it's not. At least that's how the gardener underestimated the journey. Taking a train and arriving at the Forest, the gardener thinks.
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?), the old train system had been replaced with both MRT and tunnel trains. None of which the gardener had ever used before. Gone were the old ticket-based train systems, replaced by the modern app-based reservation system. The gardener tried to ask the customer service at the ticket booth, only to be directed to download and 'install' the app.
"How the heck do I install this thing?" the gardener thinks. Never in the gardener's life arose the need to install the so-called app on the phone. Not to mention the internet. The gardener had always been so against it up to the point refused to learn about it. The customer service pointed the gardener to a personal computer nearby, but the gardener does not have the slightest idea of how this works. The customer service tried to help the gardener, but then the customer service needed the gardener ID's and the username of the wallet app.
The gardener's brain jumbled into a mashed potato, can not comprehend the vastness of modernity that is seeping through everything in life.
In the middle of the struggle, the phone rings. The gardener knows it's the old friend, the salesperson-who-nags. The gardener took time to think whether to answer the call or not, as the gardener was busy solving the puzzle of buying a single train ticket.
The gardener, hopeless against technology, decides to answer the call. As predicted, it's the salesperson. Calling for the same reason, the gardener finally proposes something to the salesperson.
"Can you help me get to the forest?" asks the gardener. The gardener rambles about how technology should be helping humans rather than making things hard, before finally asking how the salesperson can help the gardener. "You must know about all these technologies," said the gardener.
With the unique situation the gardener faces, the salesperson knows this is a golden opportunity. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get everything that the salesperson needs. No idea why the salesperson would want all those ID numbers and family names though. The salesperson promised to help the gardener get to the Forest safely, but only if the gardener promised by heart to give that personal information to the salesperson. The gardener has no choice other than to accept the offer. Fair deals the gardener thinks.
The salesperson guides the gardener slowly, to eventually be frustrated by how the gardener knows nothing!
"You know what, we can do better than this. I'll just buy you the ticket myself, and you can enter the code on those machines. That'll save you the trouble" the salesperson says.
The beeping sound of a closing door, followed by an automated voice broadcasting system marks the departure of the train. The gardener manages to board the tunnel train thanks to the salesperson.
Still talking with the salesperson, the gardener thinks that it's good that the salesperson is around. Maybe the gardener has been too harsh to the salesperson all these years. Maybe the salesperson just wanted to sell something small. But before the thought took the form of action, the gardener dismissed it. A salesperson is an annoying person, the gardener thinks.
"It's not done yet, you know," said the salesperson. Confused by the statement, the gardener asked what it meant. It turned out that the journey to the Forest contained two different trains. One is using a tunnel train, and another is using a new MRT system.
"Can't you help me like you did earlier? Help me buy the ticket" said the gardener. The salesperson wanted to help but unfortunately this time the salesperson could not do it. Explaining to the Gardener that the new system uses crypto payment and that the ticket would be bound to the salesperson's account, should the ticket be bought by the salesperson.
The gardener didn’t buy it. It must be a lie, The gardener thinks. Probably one of the ploys the salesperson creates so that the gardener would beg and give everything that the salesperson needs and that would be it. The salesperson would leave the gardener, never to be heard about again. The gardener would have nobody to ask for help.
As the train went deeper into the underground, the phone network started to scramble before going completely blank. The gardener sat alone, only to be accompanied by other people who didn’t speak to each other.
The train was full of other people like the gardener, each keeping their distance. I wonder if everyone would be happier should each one be willing to open themselves. It would be a more peaceful world where one helps the other, and not defensive toward everyone. Collaborate, instead of competing..
The Promise
The journey on the tunnel train took three hours and sixteen minutes. In those times, the gardener thinks about what would do once reached the Forest. The garden would probably need a bit of cleaning and pruning. The Hut must be dirty as well. A lot of things to do, and a long journey to be made.
The gardener wondered why problems seemed to appear out of nowhere whenever someone sets a goal. The leaving friend. The rude lady at the city council phone. The hassle of buying a single ticket. The salesperson who kept bugging the gardener. Why, Why, and three more Whys.
'Why' seems to be driving people around. Why did that lady isolate herself? Perhaps because of past trauma? Why was that woman easily startled? Perhaps because of the cockroach? Why was the forest so important that the gardener would leave the house after all those years?
The gardener remembers a promise of a thousand roses to someone dear. The promise had never been fulfilled. If only there were more time the gardener thinks. If only time stops, the gardener would be happy. Time is harsh and cold, unforgiving.
Stand tall and might be the gardener, live alone and safe. But to have someone dear, someone to share those teacups with in the afternoon, is the last puzzle piece the Gardener has been searching for.
But everything as it is, time goes on. What has been, and what will be. Deep down, the gardener feels a hole. The feeling of being left behind and no longer matters in this world. Everything and everyone moves fast and the gardener is not as fast as it was before.
That small feeling of companionship, to feel at ease with everything because there's someone else that will walk together at the same pace. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but never leaves. It would matter the world to all of us, don't you agree?
And no matter how we try to stave off those feelings, no matter if we burn or bury them, they somehow go back, Again, and again, and again. Like that pesky cold caller salesperson.
The Enlightenment
By this time, the gardener understands there are four more stops using the new MRT to get to the Forest. Since the Person hasn’t called back, the gardener asks for help with the MRT ticket attendance to read the MRT map. The ability to read the map is essential for the gardener to be able to know which train should the gardener board while waiting for the salesperson to call back.
The gardener spends one fine hour learning how to read the map. Asking everyone that the gardener encounters, from young to adults. Pieces of information were collected until finally, after all those hills of information, the gardener managed to understand how the MRT system works and how to read the map.
One more step the gardener thinks. One more train to get to the Forest.
Asking how to pay for the ticket for the MRT, the gardener validates the information the salesperson told before. That it is to be paid with crypto only. The problem is, the gardener doesn't have one, nor understand one it seems.
A call came in from an unknown number, making the gardener feel relieved. Must be the salesperson, because nobody else would call the gardener. A different voice greets the gardener. A lady with a firm voice. She explained that she was calling from the city council, to understand more about why the gardener was calling.
A feeling of relief rushed through the Gardener. The gardener's voice will finally be heard and the destruction of the Forest will be canceled. The gardener explains in detail why the idea of demolishing the Forest for a shopping center is madness.
The lady on the other end of the call noted everything and promised to pass the message to the city council as fast as possible. To do so, the lady would need to verify that the gardener is a part of the district, and all it takes is some information. The Gardener happily says yes, upon which the lady asks the Gardener's full name, late spouse's name, and mother's maiden name.
The gardener hastily provides it all to the lady. The gardener has one more last question to ask, waiting for the lady to process the gardener's complaint.
"All set," said the lady, explaining that the complaint has been sent to the city council and they will get back to the gardener soon. A smile was drawn on the face of the gardener.
Before hanging up the phone, the gardener asked the lady if she could help obtaining an MRT ticket as it should be bought using crypto only. The lady paused and explained that she could provide a ticket to enter the MRT.
The Digital Money
The gardener once again, solves the problem of reaching the Forest. Proudly at self, the gardener looks at the beautiful scenery from the MRT windows. This time the train tracks are above the ground so passengers can see the beautiful scenery that the city provides. A concrete jungle indeed. Unlike the underground train, The passengers talk to each other too. As if the sunshine helps people open up.
Another call came from an unknown number. The gardener is convinced the call is from the city council, only to find out the call is from the salesperson. Huh, this annoying brat is restless, the gardener thinks.
"Did you tell your personal information to anyone?" The salesperson asks in a hurry. Usually, the salesperson takes time before asking for personal information but this time the salesperson takes no warm-up whatsoever.
"Why?" said the gardener. "This is important. Did you give your personal information to anyone just yet?" asked the salesperson.
The gardener thinks and is confident that the gardener did not share that information...except for the city council. It's the right thing to do, right? Otherwise, the gardener's voice and aspiration wouldn't be heard by the city council. "Yes, but only to the city council," The gardener said.
"Think of it," The Person said. "Why would the city council ask for your information? They could've easily pulled the information from their records!"
The gardener is stunned by the salesperson's sentences. The gardener realizes that what the salesperson said is true. It doesn't make sense now. Back then it felt like the right thing to do, but now it doesn't. After all, life can only be understood backward but must be lived forward.
"Then why would the city council ask for it?" the Gardener asked, confused.
"I'm sorry but that's not a city council, it's the scammer that wants to extort your money" answered the salesperson.
The gardener had heard of the scammers, but never thought the gardener would fall for such a thing. In the gardener's era, people scam by selling things that we don't need. They would be so clever that we often fall for it. You know, buying things we don't need, with the money we don't have, to impress people we don't like.
"Where are you now?" the salesperson asked..
The gardener explains that the Gardener is on an MRT train. The tickets were given by the lady from the city council, surely the lady is not a bad person? After all, why would she help the gardener in the first place the gardener thinks, still in denial.
"That ticket grants you entry, yes, but to get out of the MRT system you would need the phone with the crypto wallet in your possession and you don't have that," said the salesperson. "You won’t be able to leave the MRT station."
A chill ran down the gardener's neck at the thought of being trapped at the last stop of the MRT. It's so close the gardener thinks. It's just a few hundred meters to the Forest from that station.
"It doesn't stop at that," The salesperson said. "Since you don't have the exit ticket, the station will impose a fine. Ten times the ticket price. And you couldn't afford that"
"I can afford that!" Said the gardener. The gardener has been saving up so much for many decades. Surely it's enough just to pay a ticket fee.
But the salesperson bet that the gardener practically doesn't have any money now. The bank account of the gardener would have been emptied by the scammer lady, using the information that the gardener gave.
"Calm down, let me make a few calls. You definitely owe me something after this" The salesperson said, sounding pissed. How could the salesperson not? After all these years the gardener refused to give that information to the salesperson but then one short call from some lady posing as the city council made the gardener open up.
"I'm sorry, I should have trusted you instead. I promise I will answer anything if you can help me now. You're the only person that could help me" Said the gardener
"Sigh...It doesn't matter now. I'll try my best to help you" answered the salesperson before hanging up.
Minutes passed by, and it felt like years. Sadness and disappointment brew like a storm inside the gardener's heart. If only the gardener opens up sooner, maybe it won't be like this. Perhaps the Friend wouldn't go. Perhaps the City council won't clear up the forest. Or maybe, Life could be complete.
The Last Stop
"Is this the gardener?" asked a deep voice from the other side of the phone. Just now the gardener received a call from the Bank. The Bank's fraud team found a suspicious action on the Gardener's accounts and tried to contact the gardener through the registered number, only to get picked up by another person. This person said that the Gardener puts the person's name for many things because the Gardener did not want to be hassled by any complexities of the modern world. Reluctantly, the gardener gave the phone number to the fraud team, hoping to resolve the issue quickly. When the phone rang, the gardener picked up. "Yes, who am I speaking to?" the gardener asked. The fraud team explains about themselves and the suspicious activity on the gardener's account. They want to confirm whether the Gardener is aware of it or not.
"Oh no sir, I know nothing about that. Can you help me with that? I don't know what to do" said the gardener.
"Sure can, we will revert the action. You will have your money back in your account soon. No worries. Please keep this line open" said the fraud team.
No worries he said, think of the gardener. How can that person be so calm in a time of disaster, the gardener wonders. Perhaps that's something the Gardener can learn to do. Not to worry about stuff, after all, it's either had happened or hasn't happened yet, why do we worry about things?
"Done, your money is back into your account" the fraud team said.
Now the gardener has the money back, and the Gardener is relieved. It's okay to pay the penalty fee for not having an exit ticket, as long as the gardener can exit the MRT station. The gardener thanks the fraud team and hangs up the phone.
"I need to thank the salesperson for helping me contact the bank," the gardener thought. Such a nice person, The salesperson was the closest thing to a best friend that the gardener had for years. Nice of the salesperson to help the gardener in a time of dire. However, the salesperson never called back.
The MRT broadcast system announced that the last stop was near, and all passengers must off-board at the next station. The gardener's eyes gleam up, hopeful with the soon- encountered Forest.
The Forest
There's this garden deep inside the forest, with a small hut built by the gardener a long time ago. Peace lilies, Monstera Deliciosa, and Tilandsia surround the garden. A splash of Begonia, Golden Moneywort, and English Ivy crawls into a great tree nearby.
It's been years since the gardener attended to the garden. Many years ago, the gardener would visit it at least once every two weeks especially to tend the roses and Mandevilla.
The garden once again reminds the gardener of a purpose long gone. A purpose so powerful it can move mountains. Time erodes it, but the Gardener still has some of it deep inside.
The garden might not be enough to stop the city council from turning the forest into a shopping mall, the gardener thinks. But then, nothing in life is in our control. It's all but an illusion. We do our best with the thing that we have right now and leave up the rest.
What the gardener can do, is to tend the garden again. Maybe clean up the Hut. For what? Just because. For the sake of the Hut itself and all its memories. For the garden itself and all the journeys the gardener has made. For the bet, that perhaps someone would notice the garden next to the lake and continue The gardener's purpose.
Just because.
As the gardener sits under the tree and ponders at the lake, a swarm of butterflies comes into the garden, drawing a slight smile on the old gardener's face. Soon the gardener's time will be up, the gardener thinks. But again, perhaps an end is just another beginning. We never know.