The Little Flower

Once upon a time, there was a little flower.

Every day, it woke up early to watch the sun rise. The color of the sky changed from deep navy to a lighter blue. Filament by filament, the sky changed from light blue to a bouquet of pinks and oranges. After some time, the shining, red orb of the sun rose above the horizon.

Every day, the little flower watched this wonder of nature.

Then one day, a blue bird came by. The blue bird had stories of sunrises from far away places. In some places, the clouds were below onlookers. In other places, the sun rose over a beautiful pool of water. And sometimes, when the sun rose, it shined its light just perfectly on a waterfall and its spray, and a rainbow appeared.

The flower listened intently, and wanted to see these sunsets, too.

So, it backed its bags and started on its way.

Sure enough, the little flower saw some sunrises in breath taking places. On the coast of an island, where the stream meets the ocean. On the mountains of Bali, at the top of the Alps, in the Cave of All Knowing. All over the world, the little flower traveled, sunrise to sunrise.

Then one day, the little flower came upon a strange sight: a beautiful, white flower. This flower never bloomed or came out of its bud.

This confused the little flower, so it asked the Wise Old Wwl: “Why is this flower so different?”

The Wise Old Owl had an answer: “Stay up until after the day ends, and you’ll find out.”

The little flower stayed up all day that day, and waited for the day to end. The sky put on a show of pinks and oranges and reds as the sun neared the horizon. Just as the sun dropped out of sight, the little flower saw a burst of green where the red sun had been. It had never seen anything like that before! And the sky settled into lighter and lighter colors, loosing color completely to the deep blue of the night sky.

The little flower watched the white flower. Nothing happened, so it decided to stay up a little longer.

As the night sky darkened, the little flower saw the stars come out, one by one. There was no way the little flower could sleep at such a magnificent moment as this!

Still, no change from the white flower.

The little flower noticed a change in the sky. It was beginning to get brighter. Was the sunrise coming again?

Sure enough, the sky brightened, but there were no pinks and oranges. This time, everything glowed with a white light. The stars got dimmer.

Just as the moon reached the horizon, the white flower, ever so slowly, began to open.

Petal by petal, the luminescent white flower opened. It saw the little flower, watching it in wonder, and smiled.

Together, they sat silently, watching the orb of the full moon rise above the horizon. They basked in the moonlight.

The little flower was filled with joy! Seeing a sunset, and the stars, and the moon, and a night-blooming flower – these were a lot of new experiences for a little flower to have in one day! What a wonderful, lucky life it had!

The little flower thought it might burst with gratitude.

Sure enough, the sky began to change, much like it had every day of the little flower’s life. Deep navy turned to lighter blue, then to oranges and pinks. The luminescent white flower wordlessly closed its bud and went back to sleep.

It didn’t quite know why, but the little flower knew it was time to go.

Before departing, the little flower left a small stone next to the white flower: a red, red stone – the color of the sun at dawn.

And the little flower packed its bags and started on its way.