The Thorny Twisted Vine

     In the beginning there was a beautiful garden. The garden provided everything one could ever need. The only thing that was needed was someone to take care of it, to cultivate it and make it grow. The work and time you spent in the garden it would give back many times more. The garden was perfect in every way.
     In the corner of the garden where there was very little light stood a lone thorny twisted vine. It look as if it was dead. It had no leafs just thorns. The vine done something so very special, it produced the most beautiful fruit in the garden. If you were to look upon it you would desire it immediately. It would take a strong will to resist having the fruit. The fruit upon the thorny twisted vine was always forbidden to eat. Even getting near or even touching the vine was discourage. There was a rule that the vine had to be left alone.
     A day came when someone in the garden could not resist having the fruit. The desire to eat the fruit was greater than the desire to obey the law. He reach out for the fruit upon the thorny twisted vine. The thorns that covered the vine prick his skin as he was reaching for the fruit. His skin being pricked by the thorns produced a little blood. The blood ran down the thorns and to the shaft of the vine where it was absorbed by the plant. He also experienced some pain from the prick of the thorns.
     His pain was felt by the plant itself. His pain seem to awaken that tiny vine and his blood seem to make it grow. He continued to tear the fruit from the vine and proceeded to eat it. When he ate the fruit it was like nothing he had ever tasted before. It was wonderful and very sweet tasting. He wonder why he was forbidden to eat it? It was very good tasting and it caused him no harm. He took no notice of the growth of the plant and the growth of the darkness surrounding the plant.
     He hurriedly went out to tell others about the delicious tasting fruit. The fruit was on his mind constantly. The fruit never made him feel full but left him wanting more of it. He convinced others to partake of the fruit upon the thorny twisted vine and those who ate the fruit convinced others as well.
     The vine grew and spread throughout the garden. The blood and pain of those who took the fruit gave it the nourishment it needed to grow. The darkness that followed the plant block out the light causing the other vegetation to die out. The darkness made the land barren. A perfect condition to which the thorny twisted vine could thrive.
     People's minds became fixated on having the fruit that the thorny twisted vine produced. They were no longer working in the garden beneath the light of the day. They were attending to their desire of having the fruit and happily eating it in the dark.
    The vine continued to grow and people continue to eat and only a few care much for the garden. Many who ate of the fruit of the thorny twisted vine was never satisfied. The garden which filled and satisfied many was now growing smaller. The light which shined brightly allover the land was growing dimmer. There were people who went out of the garden saying, "We no longer need it. The vine will provide all that we need."
    A generation has grown living only upon the fruit of the thorny twisted vine. There eyes have grown accustom to the dark, to them the garden is only a story that people tell. They have no desire to work in the garden but only to attain as much fruit as they can. Their thoughts are upon the thorny vine and it's fruit.
    Even though much of the garden has been taken over by the thorny twisted vine, there is still a little left. The garden and the vine seem to have switched places. Where in the beginning the vine was in a small corner of the garden. The garden is now sitting in a small corner of a vine filled dark barren land. The light which followed the garden has been ignored as well. However there is still a few who tend the garden and live in the light. They spend their time working to make it grow.
    The vine needs very little cultivating. It is cultivated by people's wants, desires and addictions. The garden needs the careful attention of others. It takes more time for things to grow in the garden, however it is well worth it.
    The garden bring fullness and satisfaction. It brings peace and light. The vine only brings want and more want. It's thorns brings pain and it's fruit brings emptiness. Those who are growing tired of the thorny twisted vine are slowly moving back into the garden and into the light. In time many will come and the garden will be spread throughout the land. The thorny twisted vine will be stuck back into it's corner and maybe there it will be forgotten forever.