No End Contract

I wouldn't want me back, I muse inside my sinkhole coffin, after all I've done.  Why would he be any different?

At that point I feel a slight movement of the ground which increases in intensity. The earth all around me convulses and heaves like a woman in labor and I wonder if I am on my last journey to the center of the Earth. I can't tell what is up and what is down anymore as I am rocked around and around.  Then I notice specks of light through the cracks. The cracks get bigger as well as the specs, and soon light starts streaming into the darkness that has been enveloping me for so long...

How long?  I have no idea. Time and its measurements - seconds, minutes, days, years, centuries - seem to hang loose on the hinges of something much bigger and more permanent. I am simultaneously both pulled upward and propelled from beneath. It's the weirdest feeling.  Momentarily I find myself face to face with the Gardener who holds my arms at the elbows.

I am so happy to see him, but I can't trust my eyes anymore, especially in this blinding light, after I've been surrounded by darkness for eternity. Despite the desire to hold onto the illusion of his presence, I chose reality instead and close my eyes again. I still feel a firm grip on both my elbows which gives me courage to open my eyes again.  He is still there. Smiling. I am quite overwhelmed and crumple on the grass next to his feet.

I am so, sooo sorry... I thought I would never see you again!

I'd told you it's all-inclusive, no-end contract... He replies calmly.

I am not sure if I really understood what you meant by it.

Of course you didn't. That will take time. You must learn to be patient. The more you know me, the more you'll understand... But right now you look like you need a really good scrub.  With those words he ends our conversation, grabs a garden hose and turns the water on.