Story rewrite

*This is the creative story rewrite that we were supposed to post a while back. i was just looking through my recent blogs and realized that i hadnt done that. Mine is a rewrite of phil's rewrite of Adam's zombie story.*

All was silent. The stillness that surrounded me was not that of death but of unspent potential. The gentle wind caressing my face seemed to whisper rebirth. Upon entering the garden I was mildly surprised at the warmth emanating from the soil and the misty vapors clinging to these other worldly plants. This was, after all, Alaska, but when I pursued my thoughts further I realized that I hadn’t really expected anything else.

I had spent years searching for this mystical oasis in the heart of the Alaskan Tundra. For as long as I can remember I had known about this magical place. As the war that would eventually consume the entire globe crept nearer and nearer to the secluded dwelling of my family, we had held on to the hope that one day someone would discover the original breeding ground of this unspeakable terror and somehow put an end to the vicious nightmare that was slowly engulfing humanity. Unfortunately no one did come across the root of this evil and little by little the whole world succumbed to the mindless bodies that had risen up against them.

I stand here now, utterly alone. I watched and waited as the world around me was destroyed by the living dead. Everything that was ever good or wholesome was contaminated by their unknowing sin. Just as they were dead in their farse of life so also had that army of mindless brutes been separated from their souls and humanity in general. They had not been able to comprehend the beauty in nature, the warmth of relationships, or the pleasure of purity. They surrendered to the most carnal desires and gave worth to only to what could be enjoyed by the flesh. Like a flood, their kind filled the earth, wiping out every last glimpse of decency. Again I watched and waited for the entire world to be destroyed by the base immorality that defined them. The rest of my family died during this drawn out wait but finally the end came.
The disease ridden populace dwindled daily, decomposing in such a way that decayed their bodies, extinguishing any chance of another resurrection. Eventually the entire earth was clean again. I emerged from my isolation with a desire to start anew.

I traversed the world in search of this garden, the root of all evil, and now I had found it. While it may seem strange that the birthplace of living death would be my destination, I knew that it was not the garden itself that possessed evil but the twisted desires of the human who had misused this sacred place.

I wandered slowly through the colorful flora breathing deeply of the heavenly aroma that infused everything around me. As I made my way to the center of the garden I noticed that the air grow sweeter. Thus far I had encountered only the types of vegetation that I was accustomed to except perfect and much larger. Now I noticed that a low hedge of deep red vines surrounded the source of that sickly sweet scent. Beyond the hedge there grew an exotic tree with flowers that looked like nothing I had ever seen before. Smooth black purple bark covered the curving trunk of the tree branching up and out into twisted limbs teeming with shimmering iridescent leaves. The flowers perched upon the branches were mesmerizing. Smooth slender snow white petals feathered out from the center revealing blood red liquid encompassed by a sheer yellow film. The smell beckoned me, the leaves glowed with an other worldly light, and most of all the flowers lay perfectly open, ripe for the plucking. All I had to do was reach out and touch the dark center and my thinking would cease, mindless bliss would engulf my body, I would be free. I felt myself raise my arm, I slowly leaned forward already tasting my sweet reward when my whole body shuddered. I jerked back. In that instant, my mind regained control. I remembered the depravity of the living bodies with dead souls. I knew my hope lay in the formation of a new humanity, one who would stand strong against the baseness of flesh and uphold the purity of spirit.

I knew the truth about those beautiful flowers. I saw them in a different light. Yes they glowed with an enticing gleam but in that perfect beauty I saw ugliness. The scent they emitted grew rank and the blood red centers I had so foolishly coveted now seemed to embody death itself. The man who succumbed to their allure just as I almost had must have seen only the perfection and felt only his greed. There were so many other perfect flowers and fruits in the garden, why covet this useless tree.

I would again watch and wait here for I knew there must be some others who had evaded the decimation of our society and they, like myself, would be drawn to this mystical oasis. I would struggle against the temptation of that deathly tree my whole life but I would not submit. Now I knew the truth and the truth would set me free.