THE ROSE
Once upon a time, in a floral shop, there was a plastic rose which, by mistake, ended up at a table with real flowers.
There, she saw the great beauty of her partners, authentic flowers, born from the earth, fed by water and illuminated by the Sun King, while she was probably born from the hand of the man, and his artificial world; for that very reason, she always felt inferior.
Very often, she heard the taunts of her mates, because, sadly but true, very often the most beautiful ones have the cruelest souls, always making fun o f her because that unreal, plastic beauty; the lack of an identity and an authentic essence, her color, her shape, everything. Nothing but a imitation, made in an assembly line.
Those comments did nothing but hurt her feelings, day by day, night by night, and although she hated them with all her soul, at the same time, and somehow, she wanted to be one more of the group: a natural flower, a flower with aroma and color gifted by the Mother Nature.
One day, that little fake flower was purchased, along with others of her mates to be used in centerpieces for a wedding; such a joyful event, where two families will be united, but even knowing that she could not forget the reality: she was different, and nothing would ever change that fact.
Good music, good food and pleasant conversations: the wedding was a success, and a kiss from the bride and the groom sealed the future of a young couple who feel nothing but unconditional love, but that little plastic rose could not enjoy the occasion; she felt so out of place there.
But while Mother Nature is gentle and kind, Father Time is relentless and unforgiving, and at the end of the event, some centerpieces were taken by the guests, but not the one with the plastic rose, that stayed there in the room, forgotten by all, experiencing the cold weather of the season, and the majestic beauty of these flowers was fading away with every second: red, blue, pink and white turned into a sickly gray, but not the plastic rose; aging was not a problem, aging will never be a problem: in the end, this flower was the only one left alive, with nothing but his melancholy, facing the life by herself.
Although, life takes unexpected twists, and even for an artificial being, there is a chance to participate in something as authentic as true love.
A young janitor, stuck in that job, unable to get a better place to work in, desperate to pay their bills, was clearing the remains of that room, and then, he noticed the plastic flower, and he had the idea…
In that night, when the young man realized that it was the time to leave, instead of going straight home, took a different direction, to the other side of town, to a neighborhood as humble as him: a long and tiring journey, but at least it was worthy, and in one of the poorest streets of that neighborhood, he was seen by a young woman of her age.
- I'm glad you're here – she said as she got closer
- I have something for you, darling…
And then from his sack he took a love letter with a very basic but dedicated poem inspired by the affection towards her partner, and together with the message, a plastic flower; the woman took this humble but representative present, and she hugged him; she didn't care about the nature of the flower, but simply the feeling, the emotion, the expression of a young love..
And despite not being born with a real essence, the essence of a rose, now resting in a vase of clay, along with a photo of these two lovers, she knew that somehow she earned a real soul, and in the end, that is the only thing that really matters...