Human nature

1. His eyes were watering from looking at the computer screen. The palms of both his hands were aching, but he was used to the sensation. His system was running a game for over four hours. The game involved creating a city, letting the player feel like god as he watched over his subjects. Resources had to be harvested, goods had to be controlled, the streets patrolled, and even the occasional enemy raid to be taken care of. This particular game had reached a point of equilibrium. Everything was perfect, the civilisation was set to blossom smoothly.
He brought up the console. Entered a few cheat codes, that would artificially force a factor into the game. A fire broke out. The health conditions deteriorated. Famine, and disease were commonplace. Riots broke out. The civilisation degenerated. He finally felt it was worth playing.

2. The rules were very specific. No glue. No bending. A standard, fresh pack of cards. 3 independent cameras. Always recording. No external help from anyone, or any machine in the placement.
Because he was a showman, he decided to go ahead and make it in the middle of the mall. Card castles used the oldest trick in the book. A bridge, or an arch made of stone often bewildered people. Everyone believed that placing the cards vertically was the difficult bit. Tuning into the slightest disturbances in the air. The vertical cards were not a problem at all. The horizontal cards, however, were another matter. They had to transfer the weight of the layers above them to the layers below them. The horizontal cards were where all the structural magic was hidden.
A little over ten days, and it was finished. Twenty seven point four eight meters high, a new record. The worlds biggest card castle. It was a work of art, however transient. He built it, he might as well take it down. That was the logic. He used a leaf blower.

3. The best fertilisers were used. The sprinklers came on every morning, at sunrise. The spray of water was controlled, short bursts every two hours. The soil was loose, damp and warm. Plenty or earthworms crawled about. These were not costly flowers. They were not put into bouquets or displayed as specialities. They were regular, every day flowers... marigolds, chrysanthemums and jasmins (Jenda, Guldaudi and Mogra). Colourful and fragrant as flowers were.
The lots would cycle. Every morning, one batch would be cut, bundled, and transported before the early morning prayers. The gardner would be careful, to lovingly make them perfect. They had to be, any imperfection was bad luck. They were bred for a single purpose, to be offered to God, in prayer.

4. They truly, really, loved each other.