Short Stories/ Essays

[ReadySteadyGo 8]

A thread to share short stories and Essays.

[ReadySteadyGo 8]

Once there was a beautiful girl who loved the smell of flowers, but she lived in a world where all the gardens were covered with concrete. There was no grass, no trees, only gray, solid rocks and grout. There were no clouds in the sky because their was no Water to evaporate, therefore no clouds, thus no rain to fall down on the hot, hot, grey world. Her people had used all the lakes, rivers, and oceans to mix with the grey sand to make the concrete. The only Water that existed was kept in giant metal enclosed canisters way up above the ground to keep people from breaking into them.

The evil leader , Gush, rationed the water sparingly, but only to those who swore their lives to his name. Every day his followers must renew their vows of allegience to Gush, and praise the beautiful grey world he created to cover the vulgar greens of the grass, the immoral reds of the apples, the unnatural blues of the insects , the ungodly voilets of the azaleas, the misguided oranges of the tangerines, and the uncoventional yellows of the daisies.

They thanked him pleadingly as he swung the small ration of water teasingly above them.

"Thank you, oh great Gush, for destroying the indulgent and sinful fruits and vegtables that grew in the gardens and orchards. Thank you for covering the unashamed flowers. How unnatural and against God they were! Thank you for bringing us this, clean, Godly world of Grey!"

Gush would then reward their servitude by a small sip of water to last them until he was ready to hear his praises again.

Poor, poor girl. She missed the trees, and the nourishing fruits, and the oceans, rivers, and lakes...but most of all she missed the smell of flowers. Her heart hurt in this grey, dead land so much that she always wanted to cry, but she was so dehydrated that she had no tears. Her throat was too dry to scream so the poor girl was forced to face her suffering in dry silence.

One day as she sat hugging herself crying tearlessly a small little pixie landed on her shoulder and asked her what troubled her heart.

"I'm parched and dry" the girl answered. "My senses are deprived and my heart aches for the taste of an apple, the coolness of dew, and the smell of a flower. I lie about who I am and what I want every day just for a small sip of water to continue my meager, miserable existance. Why wouldn't I cry?"

"What if I can show you a world full of color and taste?" pixie said moving closer to whisper these temptations in the ear of the girl. The pixie's breathe tickled the small hairs in the girls earlobes causing a chill of pleasure. The pixie whispered of hidden gardens, of running brooks, of leaning vines of grapes, and burdened trees full of fruit, and of flowers. Of every color and smell of flowers imaginable. She only had to follow the pixie to see and experience these wonders.

The girl stood up, but she was so weak from dehydration that she fell right back down. She rested for a few moments then gathered her strength and pulled herself upwards. Step by step she followed the pixie.

She followed the pixie to a small hole in the ground. The girl peeked down the hole but could see nothing but blackness. The hole was so small that the only reason the girl could fit in it is becuase she had nothing to eat in so long and her body was so dehydrated. The girl followed the pixie into the hole and she fell down and down and down for longer than the girl had the ability to remember. She thought that perhaps she had never been doing anything but falling. She fell for so long that she forgot the grey of the concrete or the red of the apples...but not the smell of flowers.

She finally landed with a swoosh into a cool, crystal clear lake. She water aborsed into her skin and by the time she floated to the top her body was swollen and fat with water. She pulled herself laborously out of the lake and waddled through the thick fragrant soft grass. Her foot squished in the rich, black mud. The green was almost painful to her once too deprived eyes. All these sensations where deeply delectable...but they were nothing compared to the scents of the flowers.

The girl picked the first flowr next to her feet. She inhaled deeply, she picked the next flower and inhaled deeply, then the next and the next. she snatched up beautiful roses and delicate lilies and shoved them to her nose like a junkie. Indeed she was intoxicated. She sniffed and sniffed and snatched and sniffed. The ran through the garden grabbing flowers and to smell. This continued for ages, in a state of elation and intoxication she snatched up flowers until she couldn't remember anything but the smell of flowers, the feel of the snap in her hand as she ripped them from the land, and the tickle of the petals against her face.

Finally she fell, after picking flowers until she exhausted herself. She fell and slept and slept. When she woke the world was barren and sparse.

"Pixie! My pixie what happened?" the girl called in despair.

The pixie flew too her and landed exhausted on her shoulder. The pixie looked unhealthy and it's tiny thin face held an expression of accusation.

"You picked all the flowers in the garden, so the insects had no pollen and no place to rest their tired wings. You then threw the flowers on the ground, covering the earth so the sunshine couldn't get to the grass. The rain could not get into the ground to water the trees. The fruit died and fell of the trees, which withered and died. You have killed the garden. All the pixies are dying.

The girl cried and apologized but she couldn't undo what she had done. So she gathered all the dry twigs from the dead trees and built a box around herself.

She was never seen or heard from again.