Once upon a time there was a garden, which lived in a quiet corner of a big, noisy city not far from the sea. On three sides of the garden there stood tall buildings that blocked out the sun for most of the day. The only time the sun's rays reached the garden was in the early morning. In the winter the garden hardly ever felt the sun's warmth on its grass and nothing much grew there except moss and weeds. The garden's owners were always too busy to care for the garden. Every morning and evening they appeared on the balcony to hang out their wet washing, but they never stayed long and rarely even looked at their garden. The only visitors the garden ever got were the local cats who used it as a place to fight.
The garden didn't want to feel sorry for itself, but it couldn't help noticing that the garden next door was much more attractive than it was. It was full of flowers kept in pots, and it even had some vegetables growing. The owners of the garden were an old retired couple who lovingly tended everything they grew. They put bottles of water at each corner to keep the local cats away, which didn't seem to mind so much because they could use the mossy, messy garden next door.
One day when the mossy garden was still half asleep and feeling rather lethargic, it suddenly heard the sound of voices.
"What do you reckon we should do with it, then? We can't just leave it as it is. It's in a terrible state. No one will ever want to buy the place with an eyesore like that right outside the window."
The garden didn't understand what the words meant but it realized that it was being talked about, and that made it feel happy. After all, there is nothing worse than being ignored. The two people whom the garden had often seen putting out the washing were moving towards the gate that led from the balcony down into the garden itself.
"Why don't we dig up this old grass and lay a patio in its place? Patios are easy to maintain and they look neat. It'd add a lot to the value of the place, too. No doubt about it."
The man and the woman nodded to each other before disappearing back indoors. It had happened so quickly, the garden wasn't sure it hadn't been a dream. But soon things began to happen. A truck arrived bringing sacks of sand, gravel and pebbles. Workmen carried square-shaped slabs of stone, which they stacked against the garden wall. The garden had never seen anything like it. So much activity! So many visitors! So much attention! The garden felt sure its life in the shade was never going to be the same again.
In the weeks that followed the garden became a hub of activity. The man and woman would spend every spare moment of the day digging up the weeds that had grown rampant for so long. They pulled out all the roots that lay tangled under the surface of the earth, and cleared away any stones they found. These they washed and put in a pile by the gate. The garden was amazed to see all the strange objects they found in its belly: pieces of twisted plastic, polystyrene, and even a long concrete girder over a meter and a half long.
Around the edge of the garden they laid a thin layer of sand onto the bare earth. On top of this they put the gravel and finally the pebbles.
"There! That should keep the cats away. They won't be giving us any more sleepless nights."
The patio took a lot of work, but for all their moaning it was clear to the garden that the man and the woman were actually enjoying themselves. They didn't seem to be in such a hurry to disappear off to where it was they went every day early in the morning. Instead of their earlier fleeting visits on to the balcony to hang out their washing, now they wandered out in their pajamas and gazed around the garden every morning as if they had never seen anything quite so beautiful before. It made the garden feel special. It had never known a feeling like it, and it didn't want it ever to end.
"Well, I reckon we're about done. We haven't done a bad job, either, even if I do say so myself. You know, I've been thinking. It'd be a pity to sell this place now we've got it looking so nice. Why don't we stay here a while longer?"