3The Legend of the Lone Lotus
The small park at the end of the street was a beautiful place. In spring, there were many birds that came out and sung. Most of the flowers bloomed in summer, and the fragrance could be smelt from quite a distance away. Following that, stunning yellow and orange leaves carpeted the floor in autumn. And finally, in winter, the park was transformed into a true wonderland. Many children had snowball fights or built large snowmen. Parents always worried about snowball fights, but nothing ever happened to their dear children.
Even over the many years, this pattern would still be followed by the life in the park. There was only one thing that did not follow any pattern – the pond. Although it slowly became barer and barer, I still enjoyed being near it. That was because of a lone lotus that floated in the centre of it.
Maybe that was only part of the reason. The main part was that trees could not move. Nonetheless, I really did enjoy being where I was.
I had lived for a long time, well before the lotus was born, and contrary to popular belief, the lotus was not always lonely. The pond was once beautiful, with clean water and many shy fish that swum around, darting under the lotus leaves. The frogs would be on top, leaping from one leaf to another. Weeping willows would trail their branches in the water, and provide some shade for visitors. The lotus was once not lonely, but part of a large family that densely populated the area.
Now, all was left was that one lotus.
There were always curious children that asked about it, and so-called 'clever' adults that tried to answer their questions. They tried to teach their children about life using that one lotus, but personally, it was not very fair for the flower at all. Of course, that was just one lotus. There was nothing special about it, right? Why should they bother about finding out the truth?
There were many stories and theories about it that I heard, but one stood out particularly clearly. It was on a sunny day, when I was watching all the passers-by. Then, a cute, innocent little girl of no more than six pointed at the lotus, asking her parents about its loneliness. Many years later, this became the Legend of the Lone Lotus. It was a good legend, I must admit, and I was quite sure that the inventor of it had no bad intentions. However, personally, I thought it was very unfair to the poor flower.
If the other trees and I had not heard wrong, the legend went something along the lines of this…
A long time ago, before the lotus was born, the pond was a beautiful, peaceful place. However, this all changed after one special bud burst into flower. This was the bud of the currently lone lotus.
Everyone liked the new lotus. Whenever they could, all nearby life would come to chat to this highlight of the pond. It was initially a very friendly lotus. However, it was different to all other lotuses, and this exceptional beauty slowly changed its character. As the lotus slowly became aware of its uniqueness, this also made it very proud. Soon, it stopped being friendly. It stopped talking to 'commoners'. It stopped being part of the large family.
Because of this change, slowly, life moved away from the pond. The lotuses requested the birds to take them away, and the fish followed. The willows pleaded the wind to scatter their seeds far away from the pond. Soon, the pond, overwhelmed by sadness, turned into the muddy and unclean state it was in now.
All this was because of a proud lotus, the one that is now floating in the centre of the pond it destroyed.
No one really cared for the truth after hearing the legend. They were all much too busy worrying about their own lives. So, it would seem, the only living things that knew the truth behind it all were the trees closest to the pond. And now, even most of them have died out.
Human beings. They always think they are so smart, so thoughtful, so caring, and so…concerned about how the world will turn out. None of them actually really ask themselves what they have done.
The truth is actually incredibly simple. Due to the cheap people that wanted to get free wood, the willows were chopped down. The others realised that pond fish were free, so they caught the poor animals for dinner, not even giving the young ones a chance to grow up.
Even the lotus is not actually nearly as beautiful as it seemed – in fact, if the other lotuses were still around, anyone would be able to see it was the ugliest of the lot. After all, with so many people throwing rubbish into the pond and polluting it, baby lotuses had to adapt to their new environment. That was exactly what this lone lotus was – a mutant. As for the many other baby lotuses…just like their parents, they had died out.
This lone lotus was all that was left of the once beautiful place.
A/N: I was thinking of ideas for a poem, and I came up with a lone lotus. And then I was thinking of ideas, and I got two. I might be working on the other one for a poem, but anyway, this first idea ended up as this short story. I'm not really good at writing emotionally, and I don't really have a way with words. But anyway…so...um...I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't...I'll be going now.
Before I dodge the flying vegetables…Please review?