A Garden Story
Once upon a time, in a magnificent garden, there grew a very precious and very Beautiful Flower. The Great Gardener loved this flower tremendously and wanted nothing more than to look at her, for simply looking at her elegant colors and delicate design brought him endless amounts of joy.
Very near to this beauty grew another flower, slightly older, strong and mighty, with bold colors and a handsome design. By the tender care of the Great Gardener the two flourished, and as they did so they grew closer and closer together until their petals touched and their roots intertwined. They were a lovely pair and the Great Gardener was very proud of them, and smiled over them daily.
He was elated beyond words when he saw three little flowers growing in the rich soil surrounding them. Not far from those three grew five more flowers, and very near to those five grew nine more, tiny ones, but just as precious. And if the Great Gardener looked very closely, he could see the tips of four more teeny - tiny buds just beginning to sprout. This was rich soil indeed and the Great Gardener was overjoyed! All of these flowers, the ones who had been growing for some time, and even the ones who were yet to be fully seen, held the markings of the Beautiful Flower and the Eldest Flower. The combinations of the colors, the elegant with the bold, the delicate with the handsome, had made for a gathering of incredibly gorgeous flowers. But the thing the Great Gardener loved the most was something only he could see; the strong root system that tied all the flowers together. An absolute masterpiece! Stemming from the very first two, all the rest of the flowers in that patch of the garden grew strong and beautiful. He was pleased by their pure dependency on him for all of their needs and it gave him no greater joy than to shower them with nourishment, protection and love. He was even known for singing over them from time to time.
Seeing that that particular patch of the garden was growing so well, and taking into consideration his extreme love for his flowers, the Great Gardener decided to take the Eldest Flower home so he would have him as close to himself as possible. Gathering his strength, for he knew pulling the Eldest Flower from the intricate root system would be difficult, (his roots being particularly wrapped around the first Beautiful Flower), the Great Gardener tugged gently and quickly took the Eldest Flower away. The rest of the flowers felt the ripping of the roots, but no one felt the tear more fiercely than the Beautiful Flower. It would take time, perhaps a lot of time, before she would get used to seeing an empty space next to her where once her bold and handsome flower had stood.
Within hours of the Eldest Flower's removal something even more terrible happened. Two terrible somethings, in fact. Where there once stood the gorgeous Eldest Flower grew two of the most hideous looking weeds, Worry and his best friend Regret. They were awful, trying desperately to twist and manipulate the Beautiful Flower into believing she belonged to them now. Worry coiled his gnarly roots around hers, tightening his grip and choking the precious beauty. Regret closed in on her, blocking her view of the rest of the garden patch, even going so far as to cloud her ears from hearing the Great Gardener's singing. Though she had been given years and years of love and laughter and life with the Eldest Flower, because of the skillful manners of the two evil weeds, she was beginning to see only the times of pain and sadness and death. They were robbing her and she was growing weaker by the hour.
"Great Gardener, Great Gardener! I am choking! I am suffocating and no one is here to help me. Where have the other flowers gone, and where are YOU?" She cried, and cried.
It felt longer than the Beautiful Flower was able to wait, but in reality it was only seconds before the Great Gardener heard the cries of his precious one and bent down low to soothe her.
"Oh Beautiful Flower, I see your tears and I feel your pain. I knew taking the Eldest Flower home with me would be painful for you, seemingly unbearable at times. I also saw the evil weeds tormenting you and wreaking havoc on your roots. And though it may not make sense to you, and it pained me so, I allowed it to happen so that you would have no choice but to call out to me. To depend on me alone for sustenance and life. Don't give them power by leaning into them, lean into me, Beautiful one, I am all the strength that you need! And have you forgotten, can you not see? I have planted an entire field of flowers around you for you to continue to grow with. They will support you when the winds blow and when the rain falls they will hold you up. Your roots are damaged, but still strong. Hold your head up high, drink in the sun and I will care for you, just as I always have."
With great resolve, for mending damaged roots does not happen quickly, and with the Great Gardener's voice still singing, the Beautiful Flower straightened her stem and lifted her delicate petals. As she did she felt a tugging at her roots, but before she could lower her gaze down in an apparent defeat, she noticed something very peculiar... the tugging on her roots was not painful, only uncomfortable, and felt as though she was not being drawn out but rather others were being drawn in. That's when she saw for the first time that her family of flowers had grown closer, much closer. Surrounding her so tightly that Worry and Regret had no chance of survival and were squeezed out of the garden! Looking all around her, the Beautiful Flower saw each and every one of the flowers who held the same delicate and bold, elegant and handsome markings of herself and the Eldest Flower combined. She stretched out her petals, over the empty space that would remain, and touched the petals of all of the little loves around her. Then she lifted her head, drank in the sun, and rested in the peace of the Great Gardener.
The End. (Or beginning, however you want to look at it.)
Very near to this beauty grew another flower, slightly older, strong and mighty, with bold colors and a handsome design. By the tender care of the Great Gardener the two flourished, and as they did so they grew closer and closer together until their petals touched and their roots intertwined. They were a lovely pair and the Great Gardener was very proud of them, and smiled over them daily.
He was elated beyond words when he saw three little flowers growing in the rich soil surrounding them. Not far from those three grew five more flowers, and very near to those five grew nine more, tiny ones, but just as precious. And if the Great Gardener looked very closely, he could see the tips of four more teeny - tiny buds just beginning to sprout. This was rich soil indeed and the Great Gardener was overjoyed! All of these flowers, the ones who had been growing for some time, and even the ones who were yet to be fully seen, held the markings of the Beautiful Flower and the Eldest Flower. The combinations of the colors, the elegant with the bold, the delicate with the handsome, had made for a gathering of incredibly gorgeous flowers. But the thing the Great Gardener loved the most was something only he could see; the strong root system that tied all the flowers together. An absolute masterpiece! Stemming from the very first two, all the rest of the flowers in that patch of the garden grew strong and beautiful. He was pleased by their pure dependency on him for all of their needs and it gave him no greater joy than to shower them with nourishment, protection and love. He was even known for singing over them from time to time.
Seeing that that particular patch of the garden was growing so well, and taking into consideration his extreme love for his flowers, the Great Gardener decided to take the Eldest Flower home so he would have him as close to himself as possible. Gathering his strength, for he knew pulling the Eldest Flower from the intricate root system would be difficult, (his roots being particularly wrapped around the first Beautiful Flower), the Great Gardener tugged gently and quickly took the Eldest Flower away. The rest of the flowers felt the ripping of the roots, but no one felt the tear more fiercely than the Beautiful Flower. It would take time, perhaps a lot of time, before she would get used to seeing an empty space next to her where once her bold and handsome flower had stood.
Within hours of the Eldest Flower's removal something even more terrible happened. Two terrible somethings, in fact. Where there once stood the gorgeous Eldest Flower grew two of the most hideous looking weeds, Worry and his best friend Regret. They were awful, trying desperately to twist and manipulate the Beautiful Flower into believing she belonged to them now. Worry coiled his gnarly roots around hers, tightening his grip and choking the precious beauty. Regret closed in on her, blocking her view of the rest of the garden patch, even going so far as to cloud her ears from hearing the Great Gardener's singing. Though she had been given years and years of love and laughter and life with the Eldest Flower, because of the skillful manners of the two evil weeds, she was beginning to see only the times of pain and sadness and death. They were robbing her and she was growing weaker by the hour.
"Great Gardener, Great Gardener! I am choking! I am suffocating and no one is here to help me. Where have the other flowers gone, and where are YOU?" She cried, and cried.
It felt longer than the Beautiful Flower was able to wait, but in reality it was only seconds before the Great Gardener heard the cries of his precious one and bent down low to soothe her.
"Oh Beautiful Flower, I see your tears and I feel your pain. I knew taking the Eldest Flower home with me would be painful for you, seemingly unbearable at times. I also saw the evil weeds tormenting you and wreaking havoc on your roots. And though it may not make sense to you, and it pained me so, I allowed it to happen so that you would have no choice but to call out to me. To depend on me alone for sustenance and life. Don't give them power by leaning into them, lean into me, Beautiful one, I am all the strength that you need! And have you forgotten, can you not see? I have planted an entire field of flowers around you for you to continue to grow with. They will support you when the winds blow and when the rain falls they will hold you up. Your roots are damaged, but still strong. Hold your head up high, drink in the sun and I will care for you, just as I always have."
With great resolve, for mending damaged roots does not happen quickly, and with the Great Gardener's voice still singing, the Beautiful Flower straightened her stem and lifted her delicate petals. As she did she felt a tugging at her roots, but before she could lower her gaze down in an apparent defeat, she noticed something very peculiar... the tugging on her roots was not painful, only uncomfortable, and felt as though she was not being drawn out but rather others were being drawn in. That's when she saw for the first time that her family of flowers had grown closer, much closer. Surrounding her so tightly that Worry and Regret had no chance of survival and were squeezed out of the garden! Looking all around her, the Beautiful Flower saw each and every one of the flowers who held the same delicate and bold, elegant and handsome markings of herself and the Eldest Flower combined. She stretched out her petals, over the empty space that would remain, and touched the petals of all of the little loves around her. Then she lifted her head, drank in the sun, and rested in the peace of the Great Gardener.
The End. (Or beginning, however you want to look at it.)
Comments
Seriously though, that was beautiful and so true! Thank you for sharing!
XOXO
Wendy, this took me about an hour to write. I wrote the first half in the morning and the second half that night. Then I had mark proof read it because I thought it was worthy of having as little spelling and grammar errors as possible, but I'm sure some still snuck their way in. Wouldn't be mine if it was perfect!