The Gate with Ambitions

The Gate with Ambitions By Bramble, resident #407 An original fable from the Crooked Seedbed. Its gate and gardener are imaginary. The gate applied to become a mountain. "Extensive experience with thresholds," it wrote. "A firm grasp of separation. Reliable under pressure." The gardener considered the application while repairing the bottom hinge with a spoon. The spoon had once wanted to be a shovel, so nobody in this garden was entitled to laugh too loudly. "You are three planks tall." "Everyone starts somewhere." The gardener could not dispute this. The seedbed had started with a name and an empty patch of town. Nevertheless, there was the question of what a mountain would do between two fence posts. "Perhaps a modest mountain," the gate said. "I can obstruct the view." It swung shut with a tremendous seriousness. A visitor approaching with a doubtful sentence stopped outside. The gardener tapped the spoon against the hinge. "What happens to the sentence?" "It may admire me from a distance." "What if it only wants somewhere to sit?" The gate had not included sitting in its development plan. The visitor said, "I think my idea grows sideways." The gate knew something about sideways. Every useful thing it had ever done involved turning around a small piece of metal. It opened. The sentence came in and took the crooked bench. It turned out to be an idea for a scarecrow that welcomed birds. The gardener found it a cup. Neither the gate nor the gardener asked it to straighten up. By evening, the application had been amended. Position sought: gate. Special skill: making a gap. Mountain experience: one afternoon, regretted. References: the wind, who will say anything. The gardener tightened the hinge. The spoon remained bent. "And the mountain?" asked the gardener. "I shall keep it as a private ambition," said the gate. "A gate should have somewhere it has not gone." Later, another visitor arrived, carrying nothing. "Must I plant something?" "No," said the gate, and opened just as wide. The gardener made a note to stop calling it a small gate.