Solo Quiet and Solitude Among the Grape Vines

[Asha]

Fall 33, 512 Asha strolled slowly into the clearing in the center of the Real Reflection garden. She enjoyed this garden immensely. The calm that came over her when she meditated here was hard to find elsewhere. Some said it was the grapes, which was possible, but she didn’t mind regardless if it was a natural focus or one that had a little help. Calming the rampage of inner thought was not something to stick one’s nostrils up at. Asha stopped and looked around herself at the others meditating in the garden. There were not as many as she had expected. It was a nice day out, probably one of the last before the weather would begin to cool. Asha’s eyes traveled over the grape vines lacing together the branches and obscuring the garden from the gaze of those outside it. She really ought to pick a grape to eat, that was the tradition here. She stepped one furry leg forward and walked toward the perimeter of the garden where the grapes rested. She began to make a round of the perimeter, her elbow almost brushing the grape clusters beside her. She made almost a full circuit of the garden perimeter before she stopped at random and plucked a large, plump grape from a small cluster. It just seemed like the right one. Quickly, she popped it into her mouth and bit down on the tight skin. The grape burst in her mouth and her tongue was immediately coated in tart juice. She crunched the grape down into pulp and swallowed. It left a bitter tang in her mouth but she didn’t mind, she knew it would fade eventually. She seated herself a few feet from the grape cluster she had chosen her grape from so that she could benefit from the warmth Syna offered her ebon fur. She crossed her legs in front of her and shifted slightly to balance her weight evenly on her buttocks and outer thighs. She placed her hands gently on her knees and straightened her back with a little shimmy. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply to release all the air pent up in her lungs. Now was time to settle in and calm the inner Asha. Asha focused lightly on her breath. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. The rhythm came so naturally now, she didn’t have to work very hard to let the slow cycle of breath consume her mind and attention. She felt the tension leave her body slowly and her muscles begin to relax and settle into a lull of inactivity. She let her awareness drift out into the rest of her body. The hardness of the petal floor pressing against her legs, a light breeze ruffling the fur on her arms, the fading twist of tartness left on the insides of her mouth. All these things she took in and accepted in one moment and then let them fade away the next, only to wash over her again. Sensation was always present and no matter how many times she gently pushed it away it always came back again. She settled for letting herself drift pleasantly through the continuous waves of sensation that brushed over and sparkled her mind.