The Red Flower
By
H.V.B
“I am so lonely today,” said the little bright red poinsettia flower, “Just yesterday everyone was looking at me and saying how pretty I was. I sit up high on a shelf in a florist shop and everyone who came in said how bright and red and pretty I was. They all asked the shop keeper if they could please buy me and take me home with them. The keeper said, ‘No. I need her to brighten me up.’”
The bright flower was pretty and she was really happy because she made everyone smile. Of course this was just before the big holiday of Christmas and everyone was decorating their homes.
Soon all the houses lost their decorations to the closet or the attic and Big Red, as the shop keeper called her, started to feel lonely and sad that no one even looked at her. Soon she started looking dull and lost her bright red color.
Then, in the middle of January, a little handicapped girl named Samantha came into the shop and she saw how sad Big Red looked and asked if she could buy her. The shop keeper let the girl buy Big Red. Big Red was delighted and sat proudly beside the little girl.
Her mother said, “Now you water and feed her real good and she will brighten your room.” Samantha told Big Red that she would feed and water her and talk to her every day.
Of course Big Red wanted to please Samantha also. She was very happy, but she couldn’t make her bright red color come back no matter how hard she tried.
One day Samantha’s mother told her, “You know, Big Red loves you very much but she has been awake for many months now and needs to sleep now.”
Samantha understood and could see that Big Red was getting very drowsy. Her leaves were curling up and dropping down like big eyelids. So Samantha and her mother fixed a nice box in the basement where it was very dark so no one would bother her. They told Big Red to have a nice long sleep and left her for months.
Samantha knew that when Big Red awoke in the autumn she would again, with her love and attention, grow into a beautiful bright red poinsettia and again everyone would love her. Of course she was Samantha’s favorite flower and was loved by her the most.