The Story of the Sphinx and its Garden

In a place that is now called the Red River Gorge, there live a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. No one to this day knows where this creature came from, some would say it traveled across the big water and some would even boast that it was a gift from Eternity herself, to our tiny blue planet. But regardless of this creature's origin, it had but one purpose and that was to create a garden of all the plants and plant-like beings of all the universes. The Sphinx was a wise and talented creature and picked what is now known as the Red River Gorge to be the site of this mythical garden due to its incredibly malleable sands and excellent supplies of water. The Sphinx began its task by making great shelves, platforms, overhangs, corridors, and walls with its two gigantic front paws. With each stroke, the Sphinx would release its claws and create several pockets for each type of unique plant life and when the Sphinx was done, it allowed the sand to harden while it traveled the universes to find each species. The Sphinx collected and collected until its task was complete and due to the intelligence of the garden's creator, the garden flourished, growing more lush and vibrant with each season. The variety of plant life was spectacular but by far the most astounding plant within the garden was a plant from the farthest reaches of any universe, (no one knows its true name) the fountain flower. This flower was the color of the purest gold and its smell was so intoxicating that it was known to give the smeller eternal youth. So powerful was this flower that it was even known to resurrect the dead and cure all sickness, except for one...heart break. The Sphinx tried as best it could to keep this particular plant a secret but it was absolutely impossible to keep a secret from the Wind. The Wind blew through the gorge, caught sight of the fountain flower one day and from that point on the Wind became infatuated with its beauty. But just as no secret could be kept from the Wind, the Wind could keep no secret, especially when the Wind's beloved mother, the Great Mother, was grieving over the loss of her Father Stone. So the Wind told the Great Mother of the beautiful flower it had found, in hopes that it would cheer her up and Wind was so pleased with itself because the Great Mother instantly snapped out of her depression. The Great Mother flew as fast as she could to the location of the gorge but as she began to enter, the Sphinx stopped her dead in her tracks. She had never seen such a creature. The Sphinx knew of her intentions for it was a powerful creature but the Sphinx was unaware of her desperation. The Great Mother stood before the beast and said she knew of the flower, its origins, and its powers because an ancient being, the Wisdom Tree, had told her. She asked the Sphinx if she could use the flower to bring back her lover but the Sphinx simply gazed at her with its golden eyes and did not move from the path. The Great Mother attempted to get around the Sphinx but it would not remove itself. Then the Great Mother attempted any and all sorts of trickery for the following weeks in an attempt to allude the Sphinx and get the flower. She tried sleeping potions, disguises, traps, and even tunnels to no avail. Finally, on her last nerve the Great Mother summoned the Wind and approached the Sphinx for the last time. With the Wind howling behind her, the Great Mother walked up to the great Sphinx and demanded that it turn over the fountain flower or she would destroy the Sphinx itself. The Sphinx closed its enormous eyes and spoke, "Caretaker of the sky, you will only destroy what you seek." And with those final words the Sphinx dissipated into sand and all the plants the Sphinx ever touched disappeared thus turning the gorge into a desert for many centuries. The Great Mother sent the Wind to discover if the fountain flower suffered the same fate as the rest but the Wind's search was fruitless and the fountain flower did not reappear in history for many centuries. Oddly enough, when life began to return to the gorge, only then did the fountain flower began to be mentioned in the old fairy tales again and although many have searched, only a few have found this mystical plant. To this day it is believed that the fountain flower still lives somewhere in the gorge and I recommend that we keep our eyes and noses open for the golden light of a long forgotten universe and the smell of a heaven none of our kind will ever reach.