The Rose and The Thorns

    Once upon a time there was a beautiful garden, and in the very center of that garden was a beautiful rose bush, and at the very top of that rose bush grew the most beautiful rose ever created. Every day people and animals would come to see her and admire her beauty, but every time they tried to get close to the rose or touch her they found themselves pricked and wounded by the sharp thorns hiding beneath her petals. One day, increasingly annoyed by this, the Rose called down to the Thorns,

    “Excuse me, but do you mind? People adore me and they’d like to touch me, so if you wouldn’t mind ceasing to cut them and cause them pain, I’d be ever so grateful.” To this the Thorns replied,

    “Sorry, Lady, but we’re just doing what we’re meant to do.”

    “Well!” huffed the Rose, “Such nasty little things you are, its no wonder nobody likes you! It is just awful that we are part of the same bush!”. The Thorns laughed at this and called back,

    “Well if you don’t like being part of the bush, go ahead and jump! See how well you get along without us!”

    The Rose, who was terribly vane and terribly conceited, thought to herself, what do I need the rest of this bush for anyhow? So she plucked herself free from her stem and jumped towards the ground where she fell amongst the grass and the leaves. It was very cold on the ground, and The Rose could not feel the wind in her petals or the sun on her face. People passed by the bush and noticed the Beautiful Rose was gone,

    “What a shame...” they said, and continued on their way. The Rose tried to call up from the ground,

    “I’m down here! I’m down here! You can touch me now!” but no one heard her or noticed her. This caused the Rose such sadness that within a few days she withered and died from a broken heart.

    When news of the Roses death finally traveled from the bottom of the bush up to the top, the Thorns sighed and shook their heads,

    “It’s a sad thing. She was so beautiful.”, said one to the other. To which another Thorn replied,

    “She brought it on herself. If she could have accepted that we were a part of her,  she’d still be up here being admired today.”