Just then he heard his mother calling. “Oscar, come here please, I want to talk with you.” Oscar was a curious and rambunctious young pup, but he was also a very obedient puppy who always did as his mother asked.

“Yes, mama, what do you want to talk about?” Oscar asked as he bounded over to her.

Oscar’s mother began cuddling him, licking the fur on Oscar’s shiny black head as she told him the news. “You know that your father lives in a different garden in a faraway land, don’t you?”

“Yes, mama.”

“Well today you are going to go visit him,” his mama said.

“I am?” Oscar asked with surprise.

This excited Oscar, but also made him a little nervous about going so far away. Oscar always dreamed of one day meeting his father.

His father did not belong to the exceptional garden; rather, he lived in a garden thought to be very different.

After hours of traveling — soaring over hill and dale, land and sea — Oscar arrived in the new land. The puppies he met there barked in a language Oscar did not understand. They practiced different traditions and rituals. Nonetheless, Oscar quickly made friends and became comfortable with their differences while learning their language. He had a wonderful time experiencing the unusual customs his new friends were teaching him. For in the far away land they had an unwritten rule of hospitality to strangers.

Oscar spent his days frolicking with his new friends, and his evenings having long talks with his father. Oscar came to know his father well.

After a long period of living in the new land, it was time for Oscar to go back to his mother, back to the land of the free and the home of the brave, back to the exceptional garden. His father said he had to go back to learn responsibility and be an adult member of the garden. Little did Oscar know his father was dying. Oscar’s father left him with a strange bit of advice:

Not long after Oscar arrived home, he had a strange encounter. He noticed just the flash of a shape out of the corner of his eye. The shadowy shape threw a rock then hid its hand, as if it was guilty of nothing. The rock stung Oscar but did not break bones. 

Later that year Oscar learned that his mother was also dying. Alone and saddened, Oscar spent the following years studying important books and wisely contemplating the many things his father and mother taught him. Only now and then did Oscar glimpse the shape-shifter from the corner of his eye throw a rock and hide its hand. The rock stung but it did not break bones.  

Soon happiness returned to Oscar when he met and married the love of his dreams. He became the father of two beautiful daughters. Oscar wanted only to give his daughters the best life the exceptional garden in the land of the free and the home of the brave offered.  

As time passed, Oscar was discovering that there was much dissatisfaction over some rules in the garden. The members were bickering and choosing sides from which to argue about the rules. There was great consternation. So, Oscar made a plan to bring all the members together and find solutions to solve their arguments. He began organizing and talking to different groups in the community to find some common ground, to make sure every voice and opinion was heard. Yes, and from time to time, out of the shadows, the pesky Shape-shifter would throw the rock and hide the hand. The rock stung but did not break bones.  

The day came that Oscar stood on the steps of The Great Wall of Reflection and announced that he would run to be the leader of the garden. He said he knew he could satisfy all the members some of the time, and some of the members all of the time, but he couldn’t satisfy all of the members all of the time. Many of the garden members listened to Oscar and agreed that he would make a good leader. The members began to encourage Oscar and pledged to help him become the head of the garden.

Woof! Woof! Woohoo!”they shouted.

“Oscar’s plan gives us hope. He will help bring about the change we need.”