The Flooded Garden

The Flooded Garden

Liany Caimares

04/23/2026

The Vizcaya Garden in Miami was home to a community of fairies. The rulers of the garden were King Ramon and Queen Reina. Fairies have lived in this garden for centuries.
For years, the garden had been peaceful. The fairies lived a comfortable and happy life. Everything they needed was in the garden. They never had to worry about any danger or harm.

This all changed in the year 2065. Storms were becoming a weekly occurrence. The fairies barely had any time to recover for the next one. It wasn’t long before there was an announcement that a strong hurricane was coming their way. They had already gone through so much. They gathered emergency supplies and tied their homes with vines to ensure they wouldn’t fly away. Little did they know, this preparation was not going to be enough.

Once the storm started, the fairies realized that it was much worse than they thought. The sky got darker, wind got stronger, and the ocean also began to rise. Before they knew it, homes were already starting to get flooded.

Ramon and Reina knew they were in deep trouble. In the middle of the garden sat a special gem. This special gem kept all their powers alive, but was close to being flooded. They came up with a plan to evacuate the community of fairies to the tallest and sturdiest tree in the garden. They had to work fast. The water was rising quickly. They made an announcement to the garden for everyone to prepare to leave their homes.

The group of fairies that was closest to the water was evacuated first. Ramon and Reina did the best they could guiding fairies to the tree. They eventually cleared out all the fairy gardens.
When Ramon and Reina came back to the tree, their son Marco was there waiting for them. By this point, the water had already covered almost the entire garden. As Marco extended his hand to “help” his parents get onto the tree, he pushed them both back into the water.

“No, Marco!” They both yelled as they disappeared into the strong current of water. They were never seen again.

Marco thought nobody saw him. As he turned around, he saw his lifelong friend Sam with his face in shock. Sam began backing up, scared of Marco. As Sam was about to run to tell the other fairies what had just happened, Marco grabbed him forcefully by the hand. He made a deal with Sam.

“I am the new king now,” Marco said. “You see that strong current of water? I will just throw you right in, just like I did to my parents.”

Sam froze. He didn’t know what to do or say. Marco gave him a choice. Sam could either become Marco’s servant and survive, or Marco would kill him.

Sam was hesitant at first but knew he didn’t want to die, so, he agreed.

Marco told Sam that they would both go back to the other fairies and tell them a sob story of how Ramon and Reina didn’t make it. That they didn’t have enough time to make it to the tree. The water took them away.

After this, the community really started to fall apart. The storm passed, but the garden remained flooded. Marco declared himself the king. The fairies could no longer call him Marco, only King Marco.

King Marco changed all of the rules. The tree they now lived in had many different branches. The lower branches were closer to the water and were fragile. The higher branches were safer and sturdier. He created a list of all the fairies he liked and didn’t like. Those on his like list lived on the higher branches. These were the fairies that were richer and praised King Marco. The fairies on his dislike list lived on the bottom. These were the fairies that were poor and didn’t agree with King Marco’s new rules.

Among the fairies from the lower branches lived Marianne. Marianne knew something wasn’t right. She always questioned King Marco’s authority. King Marco hated Marianne. To the point where, whenever he was bothered by her, he would shake the tree to try and knock her off the branches in hopes that she would disintegrate in the water.

But Marianne never fell.

Every time he shook the tree, she would hold on so tight, blisters would form on her hands. The loud and violent rush of water reminded her of what waited below.

She pushed through every single time. Every day she survived would make her stronger. Every day she survived made King Marco even more infuriated.

The other fairies noticed what was occurring. However, since they were all too afraid to speak up against Marco, so they just stayed silent. But they slowly became more hopeful of a better future with Marianne in charge. She was their only hope for living again.

One night, after there had been another tree shaking, the lower branch fairies secretly gathered.

“It’s getting worse,” one of the fairies whispered.

“We can’t keep living like this,” another fairy said with a concerned look on her face. They all nodded in agreement.

The fairies felt trapped in their own world. They couldn’t fly. They couldn’t leave. They couldn’t live.

If they tried to climb to higher branches for safety, King Marco would notice.

The fairies sat in silence, not knowing what to do. Marianne looked around at all the devastated expressions on the fairies’ faces.

“Well, sitting here won’t make anything change. There will be no change unless we do something about it,” she said in an encouraging tone.

One of the fairies looked at her and said, “What are we supposed to do? He controls everything and he can kill us at any moment.”

“He is only powerful because we let him be,” Marianne said.

The others were not impressed.

Suddenly, a loud rustling noise came from the top of the tree. Everyone froze.

“He’s coming,” one of the fairies whispered.

Everyone began to panic. All the fairies quickly ran back to their places as if nothing had ever happened.

King Marco appeared from above. He was the only one who could fly because he had a special ring. This ring had a piece of the garden gem in it. Whoever wears it, has access to all the powers. He didn’t have to worry about falling. He landed on one of the branches and glanced through all the lower branches.

Marianne looked calm, but on the inside, she was panicking. She knew she was a target for King Marco.

King Marco made his way toward Marianne, stomping forcefully on the branches without a care in the world. He stood in front of Marianne. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

King Marco smiled. “Still here?” he said in a snarky tone.

Marianne ignored him.

He grabbed the branch and shook it violently. The fairies started screaming as they struggled to stay on the tree. Marianne held on tight but tried not to look scared.

When he finally stopped, Marianne said, “You will pay for this one day.”

The entire fairy community went quiet. Everyone was scared King Marco was going to push her off, but instead he remained calm.

“Careful. Remember, you are a nobody,” he said and then flew back up to the higher branches.
Marianne was relieved, but she knew she had just made a huge mistake.

As the days passed, everyone became more and more miserable. The water grew higher and so did King Marco’s ego.

The fairies noticed he wouldn’t really check on them anymore, which was a good thing, but they grew suspicious.

Little did the fairies know, King Marco was searching through what remained of the garden. He was looking for anything that might make him more powerful. At the beginning, all he found was trash and others’ soaked belongings.

One day, as he was searching through the flooded garden, he saw something sitting on the roof of what was left of his old house. It was a book.

He quickly flew to the roof and opened the book. He frantically started flipping through the pages of the book, not knowing what it was. Nothing was captivating his attention. Until one of the pages was titled “Wishing Seaweed”. Marco was intrigued.

According to the book, deep below the flooded garden, sat the rarest kind of seaweed known to mankind; the wishing seaweed. In that place grew this type of seaweed that was able to grant any wish desired.

Marco’s face lit up.

“Any wish huh?” he said with a smirk on his face.

This is just what King Marco was looking for, more power. He wasted no time and called for his servant Sam.

Sam quickly went to King Marco.

“Yes, King, how can I serve you?” Sam said in a shaky voice.

Marco pointed to the illustrations of the book and said, “You will find this.”

Sam looked at him with a worried face.

“But look at the current. It’s too strong. No one survives down there.” Sam said.

Marco’s face turned serious as he said, “You will. Or else you can join my parents. Go on now.”

Sam knew what King Marco was referring to. He was threatening to throw him in the current just like he did to his parents.

Sam finally agreed.

Marco was able to obtain a submarine, and that night, Sam prepared for his long and dangerous journey. The submarine was in poor conditions, but it was going to have to work for Sam.

It was finally time for Sam to leave. He looked around one more time at the tree, fairies, and the world, not knowing if he would see them again.

Days passed, and King Marco grew impatient. He wasn’t worried about Sam; he just wanted his wishes to be granted.

The fairies noticed that Sam was nowhere to be seen. Marianne knew something wasn’t right. She knew King Marco was up to no good.

On day fifteen, a dark figure appeared to be rising from the water. It was the submarine. It was in even worse conditions than when it had left.

Sam stepped out of the submarine barely able to keep his balance. He was weak and unable to speak. A glowing light came from his hands. He was holding the wishing seaweed. He had found it.

Marco immediately went to Sam and snatched the seaweed right out of his hands.

Sam tried to warn King Marco. “You must know that with every wish, there is a cost. You will become weaker with every wish you make.”

Marco replied with attitude, “I don’t need any of your warnings.”

Sam tried to warn him again, but before he could let out another word, King Marco pushed him into the current.

All of the fairies let out a huge gasp. The entire area went silent. King Marco was unbothered. He continued with his day as if nothing had happened.

Later that day, Marco made his first wish. “I wish to have the power to compel any fairy in this tree,” he said excitedly.

The seaweed shined so bright it almost blinded him. But everything seemed to be the same.
He decided to test out his power. He called out to a fairy, “Hey you! Go jump off that branch into the water.”

The fairy walked toward the edge of the tree. Other fairies tried to stop this, but before they knew it, it was too late. Without hesitation, the fairy jumped into the water.

King Marco smiled. “Yes! It works,” he said in an evil voice.

The entire fairy community grew even more scared of him. They spent the rest of the week hiding from him. King Marco also spent the rest of his week making more wishes. All of the fairies obeyed him.

The lower branch fairies stopped gathering to discuss the issues because their thoughts put them at risk. They all felt defeated.

All except Marianne.

One day, King Marco wanted to test his powers on her.

“Come here,” King Marco ordered. But Marianne didn’t move.

He tried a second time. “Marianne. I said come here.” But she stayed where she was.
All of the fairies were in shock. Marco felt embarrassed. His powers worked on all the fairies except Marianne.

“I’m not following any of your orders,” she said confidently.

Marco’s face turned red as he screamed, “Everyone obeys me! What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing is wrong with me, but everything is wrong with you,” she replied.

So then, King Marco made another wish. “I wish to have more physical strength.”

His wish was granted, and he proceeded to shake the branch where Marianne was on. This was normal behavior from him, however this time it was harder to hang on.

All the other fairies left that branch, all except for Marianne. She stood her ground.

King Marco couldn’t believe she was still on the branch. So he made another wish.

“I wish…,” but before he could finish his sentence, he fell onto the branch.

“Ow,” he screamed in agonizing pain. He suddenly became weak. All those wishes he granted, finally caught up to him.

“No! This can’t be happening,” he screamed.

Marianne stood next to him. “You were warned. Your time is up.”

King Marco let out one last breath, and he was gone.

The fairies stared in silence. Confused and in shock of what had just happened. Were they really free?

The fairies were finally themselves again. King Marco was no longer controlling them.

The next day, Marianne gathered all the fairies together. She stood beside them, not as a ruler, but as a fair leader.

She got rid of the branches that determined which level the fairies lived on, and everyone had a safe place to live. They might not have their original garden back, but at least they were living without fear.