The Basket of Wild Flowers
written by: June Potter
@coralmay06
Quiet and still is the forest of wonder and beauty yet only a few ever discover its magical charm hidden away on the road taken by mistake.
Every morning, when the sun’s rays begin to shine forth with speckles of orange and yellow hues, the young lady of tender graceful footsteps moves into the silence of the unseen forest so near to her home. A home that is not that of shining glory and majestic fashion but rather one that is small and with only that of basic necessities. To the gentle graceful young lady named after her grandmother Petal, her home was where she could just be herself, holding nothing back, for acceptance was the key that brought together the love this small family felt one for the other.
“Petal, where are you going again this morning? Will you please share with me what it is you do so early and why is it necessary to take my one and only basket? Please, my precious girl, tell your mommy this well-kept secret that you have!”
Not wanting to be disdainful or rude to her mother who gave up everything just so that she could gain an education, Petal ran and held her close, promising that after she got home she would finally share her small but exciting secret with her beautiful and loving mother. It really was nothing that important, or so Petal thought to herself, but it gave her such a warm and glowing feeling deep within her heart, that to stop her early morning outings was something she felt she could never do! Had she not been taught that it was more blessed to give than receive? Was it not because she always saw her mother and father helping and giving those in need a small but generous gift, regardless if it meant that they would have to go without that particular day?
Skipping along the well-known path to the forest of wonder and beauty as she had described it in her mind, so she stopped along the way and carefully picked every colourful wild flower her young eyes beheld. The rain had brought the much-needed refreshment onto the hot land and when the gentle breeze moved in and brought the wild flowers alive so Petal sat down and watched in awe as the flowers began to dance as if giving thanks to the rain clouds above and to the tender breeze of music heard only by every small living creature; the plants and the wonderful masses of wild flowers.
Realizing that time was now moving faster than she anticipated so Petal went further and deeper into the forest for no longer was she afraid of its silence. In fact, the silence was so soothing to her heart of compassion and love that whilst finding even more wild flowers in the forest than outside of it; she began to think who she was going to give a flower to this morning? After leaving the wide open field and the forest of wonder and beauty, she knew within her heart that there would surely be those she would meet along the way who would need to be encouraged to go on or those who felt no one truly cared for them. In her mind, she saw the old granny walking her grandson to the small school quite a few miles away. Every morning of the week, the two of them would rise early and walk the far distance to the school for nothing was going to stop the young boy’s granny from seeing that her beloved grandchild received a decent and proper education!
“Yes,” thought Petal. “Yes, today I am giving granny the bright red wild flower because it shows her love and concern for this gift of a grandson given to her.”
As Petal made her way to her regular part of the field so she became aware of more children standing outside a simple room at the back of the farmer’s land. Not understanding what exactly was happening, she asked a little girl watching everything with big eyes!
“What is happening here, can you please tell me?”
There, a bit further away Petal saw a young girl singing with the most beautiful voice to her baby brother who had just been born. The baby had arrived far too early and with no one to help the mother give birth, he had not survived the trauma brought into being. Holding the small, still warm body in her arms, the young girl gave forth her tender expression of love to her baby brother in song. Taking out a wild flower with a soft blue hue wrapped around the white inner delicate part, Petal quietly walked up to the young sister and placed her flower of sympathy and love into the hand of this angel of tender song.
It was time to move forward on her journey. Reaching a place of rest under a huge tree filled with so many branches of giant leaves, Petal sat for but a short while, drinking the cold refreshing water given by the people owning the little café. On receiving a sandwich, Petal reached into her basket of numerous colours and laid out on the tray three wild flowers fitting for the amazing atmosphere found in this café. How she loved being able to bless others on her daily early morning walk! Nothing expensive or fancy but that which come from her sweet and gentle heart. People were struggling, people were full of doubts concerning their future but seldom did they express their inner thoughts and feelings yet somehow Petal knew that one simple deed done; one small gift given was enough to brighten the day.
Moving closer now to her home, Petal decided that there was one more thing she wanted to do; something that had planted itself in her heart for sometime now. As she found the small river moving gently downstream, she dipped her feet into its waters of refreshing coolness and with childlike delight began to laugh as if someone was tickling her feet but yet no one was around; or were they? Had she not heard tender voices coming forth from this area before?
Speaking aloud now to herself she began asking questions that could only be conjured up in a young girl’s mind of vivid imagination! “Hello green leaves sailing by, and how are you this morning? Have you decided it is that time of the year to throw off your covering from all the giant trees? Do you not know that all the trees cry from the harshness of the winter winds because no longer are they wearing their beautiful dresses? Maybe, just maybe, you could leave a few leaves behind just to show your understanding of what the bare trees go through?”
Whilst waiting for an answer so Petal glanced down and there on the ground she saw a few ants walking as fast as they possibly could for surely they knew that staying alive was a huge feat! “Do not be afraid, busy little ants, for I shall not stand on you but you need to look for another pathway on which to build your enormous ant hill. Over here you shall be removed very fast!” Reaching into her basket of wild flowers she carefully broke each stem and placed just the bright flowers alongside the gentle flowing river bank; that of the fallen leaves on the nearby grass and now next to the few tiny ants ever so busy.
This was her way of saying that even though of such a tender age, she was aware of the beauty of nature and its changing seasons plus that of the small hard-working ants. The gentle river flowing downstream gave refreshment to many plants and small creatures and these moments of self-discovery had been within her mind and heart for some time now.
Finally, on the pathway leading home, she walked into the living room, where she removed the last two wild flowers and put them into a glass of water. Leaving them on the table she called out to her parents who had been anxiously waiting for her.
“Mommy, daddy, where are you? I have some stories to share with you; I promised we would talk about it when I arrived home.”
After giving her parents the detailed descriptions of her morning outings they both stood up and held her ever so close to their hearts.
“What a wonderful caring child we have,” said her father as he gazed at her.
“These stories are so precious to our hearts Petal,” replied her mother. “We are so proud of the way you have shared your love with those in need. Never again will we look at wild flowers in the same way for now we too see their beauty and all because you, our precious daughter, opened our eyes!”
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