“Great! Now, where to?” he asked.
    “Surprise me.  All I care about is light and somewhere to sit.”
    “I have the perfect place. Do you like plants?”
    “I love them!” I explained, probably more excited than really necessary.  None of the guys I knew in high school were into plants, which made a relationship hard since they were such a big part of my life and I wasn’t interested in much more.  I mean, the sex helped, but even I couldn’t think about sex twenty-four seven, let alone let it rule my relationship.
    “Well then, let’s get going, shall we?” he asked
    “We shall.  But first, you have to answer something for me.”
    “Sure, go for it.”
    “Are you a serial killer?”
    A shocked look appeared on his face. “No…”
    “Maniacal rapist?” I asked. Better cover all my bases. I thought to myself.
    “Um… No…” Now the poor guy just looked confused, and slightly amused.
    Can never be too careful… “How about a deranged kidnapper?”
    “No.  And that was three questions. And if I was any of those things, do you think I would ever have answered truthfully?” He finished off with a laugh.
    What’s that, self? No, I don’t feel like a complete and utter idiot. Of course not… “Maybe you’re an HONEST maniacally deranged kidnapping serial rapist who kills his victims.” He glanced at me and began to laugh. “What? It could happen... Right?”  I began to laugh with him, realizing how completely ridiculous that I must have sounded.
    We walked in silence for awhile enjoying the night air, rounding corners and crossing streets that were only slightly familiar to me. We came up on what seemed to be an empty lot behind a wooden fence.
    “Ok, ok.” He gasped. “It seems you’ve caught me.  I’m an insane rapist who kidnaps teenage girls and rapes them in my garden of torture! He exclaimed with what could have only been described as a flourish as he opened the gate we had come to and waved me in.
    “This is beautiful, but there are no lights, and probably no benches.” I realized what a terrible idea this was and decided it was a good time to go home. “You know, I think now is a good time to leave. See you around.” I turned to walk away and felt his hand on my arm. No grip at all, just resting there.
    “Wait, please, just give me three more minutes.  Pretend we’re not here yet.  I promise you’ll love it.” The man was practically begging, making me feel horribly guilty.
    “Fine, but if you freaking rape and murder me, I swear I will haunt you until the day your great grandchildren die.” I threaten.
    “Ok, that sounds fair.” He took my hand and led me to the middle of the garden. “Just stand over here, one sec, let me grab a cushion, I’ll be right back.” He wandered off and came back with two large cushions and placed them on the ground side by side. “Ok now sit. Slowly, can’t have you fall on any of the plants. There you go.  Are you comfortable?” He asked.
    “Yes, it’s nice.” I answered, surprised.
    “See? Somewhere to sit, now, light, yes?” He asked, already knowing my answer.
    “Please.”  He sat next to me, a bit to close for my comfort and pulled a lighter and a folded piece of paper out of his pocket.  He lit the corner of his paper and after a few moments, the smoke became strongly fragrant.
    “Sage”, he explained “I come every night to cleanse away any negative energy I’m accumulated through out the day.”  He dropped the small packet onto the ground and I noticed there was a trench in front of us.
    The small hole in the ground began to glow lightly where the paper had been dropped then brightened as it became a fire.  Slowly, the fire crept down the trench, which grew much longer than I saw at first.  It lit up different plants, some which I recognized and some that were new to me.  As I watched it grow, I gasped at the plants, all so beautifully taken care of.  Some I knew, some were new to me.
    My heart began to race and it seemed that the more the fire grew, the faster my heart beat.  I stood up and amazed by the intricacy that must have been required to devise something like this, I began following the snaking flames.  He was absolutely right; I was utterly in love with this garden.