The Tower of Roses

Added 1716906015 by John McNairn.

The Tower of Roses.

Some men called him a wizard and some men called him crazy, some knew the truth but never uttered it. Whatever he was he lived in a small squat tower on his own, seldom seeing anyone of human kind despite living a very long time. The strange thing about the tower was that it seemed to reflect the inner turmoil or peace of passers-by, those who harboured ill feelings saw a rundown squalor settled in darkness and gloom, and those of a happier disposition saw the tower surrounded by a bright garden.

Eventually it was supposed that the old man died, though there was no body, it was as if his very essence disappeared and became one with the tower. During his lifetime though he tended to the tower and the nature that lived nearby, the birds often came to the tower rooftop and small animals found safety at its base. Time seemed to taken its toll on the tower at a slow languid pace, it didn't quite fall into ruin, rather it relaxed into a tumbling gentle sleep. For many many years the birds and animals still frequented the tower, the animals would fertilize the grounds beneath and birds would eat and drop seeds from the exposed rafters. And so it was that the tower grew and cloaked itself in various roses, the climbing roses would cling to the walls and reach up very high with a cascade of colour and ground roses filled the air with perfume. It was rumoured that the spirits of the roses danced there in the summer nights.....but that is just fanciful....surely?!