The Garden of Statues (short story)
The Garden of Statues was the first short story in Time Lord Fairy Tales.
Publisher's summary
Children have always played in the garden of the Big House - though sometimes, the stone statues there seem to move about of their own accord. One fateful day, two children venture up to its door, to find out what lurks inside once and for all...
Plot
The home of a pair of elderly people is often visited by a group of children who love to play in the gardens, an action which is encouraged by the old couple who leave out a tray of sweets for them. One day, there are no sweets for the children. One of the children, Tarmin, peers through the drawing room window to see the old woman looking sad.
One week later, the children see the old woman's body being driven away in a hearse to be buried with her husband.
One year later, Tarmin and his friends return to the gardens where many children who used to play in the gardens have apparently vanished into thin air. One of Tarmin's friends, Hal, shows some skepticism about the vanishing children, believing that they simply moved away. Izmay, another of Tarmin's friends, suggests that they sneak into the gardens to see if it's safe and is adamant in her decision to walk right up to the house to show her friends how brave she is, something she believes she'll prove by entering the house and finding the silver tray that the old couple would usually put the sweets on. Tarmin decides to accompany her and, with help from the other children, climbs up over the wall and enters the garden with Izmay, but not before telling Hal to make sure that no one else follows them if they don't come back.
In the gardens, Tarmin and Izmay are saddened to find the place overgrown with vegetation, but they still continue on their mission to find the silver tray. Following the path, they soon come across a statue of an angel with her hands over her eyes. Izmay suggests that the statue is sad about the gardens being overgrown, but Tarmin senses something unsettling about the statue. When they reach the terrace, they look back at the statue to see that the angel has looked up and is now staring at them. As they go up the terrace steps, they see more of the angel statues that have apparently been placed rather haphazardly.
Izmay wonders who placed the statues everywhere, but Tarmin notices even more statues around the edge of the lake. Both Izmay and Tarmin are scared of the statues, but they still need to enter the house so they can find the silver tray. Turning back to the house, the children see that the angel statues on the terrace have moved closer to them. Managing to avoid the statues, they manage to get into the house through the unlocked front door.
Tarmin slams the door so that the angels cannot get to them, then realizes that the statues can only move when they are not being looked at before suggesting that they find the silver tray and run back to the wall as fast as they can. When they enter the drawing room, they find the tray, but the Weeping Angels are at the window. Tarmin urges Izmay to hurry as he grabs the tray, only for another angel to appear in the drawing room and send Izmay into the past.
Izmay finds herself in the drawing room, but with everything looking newer than it did when she and Tarmin entered. She is then approached by a figure.
Tarmin tries to search for Izmay, but the Weeping Angels also send him into the past, where he is relieved to finally see Izmay again, along with an old man who leads them into the drawing room and says to him that it'll take a while for him to adjust. Tarmin and Izmay gradually become more accustomed to living in the old house despite being unable to return to their own time.
As time goes on, Tarmin and Izmay become older and decide to live in the house until the end of their lives, even leaving out sweets for the children who would come to play in the gardens, thus revealing that they are the old couple who used to live in the house and would leave the sweets out for the children, including their past selves.
Characters
Worldbuilding
- Tarmin and Izmay, when they get older, leave out candy for the children.
Notes
to be added
Continuity
- Tarmin and Izmay are sent back in time by the Weeping Angels and eventually impact their own future, which also happened in TV: Blink.
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