Story Contest 2017 #1 - Outstanding Stories » The Arrogant Flower

“The Arrogant Flower” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2017 written by Aishwariya Pandia, India.

The Arrogant Flower

Once upon a time, a tree lived happily in the company of squirrels and birds. The tree although old, had not flowered even once in its lifetime. Many years passed this way, until one spring the tree finally had a bud amongst its leaves. The leaves were excited to see the bud and were overjoyed.

After a few days the bud blossomed into a flower. The flower was colourful and one of the most beautiful being around. The flower received compliments from everyone around it. Every bird that saw it said, “Oh my! You are more beautiful than the tulips of the farm!”

Every jackal that saw it said, “You are even more colourful than the rainbows of the sky.

Every cloud that saw it said, “Wondrous! You are more stunning than the landscapes of the forests!”

Everyone complimented on her beauty. This made her arrogant. One day a leaf asked her, “Will you play with me and my friends?”

The flower replied in an angry tone, “How dare you ask me to play with you? A mere leaf asking a magnificent flower to play with it? NO! I refuse to play with low kinds like you!”

The leaf turned away with a frown on its face. Every time anyone asked the flower something, she would always reply rudely. A few days passed like this and the flower was at the peak of its arrogance.

Then one fine day a man passing down the road saw the flower. He thought, “OH MY GOODNESS! What kind of a glorious flower is this? I will take this for my wife!” He immediately plucked the flower and went home. After arriving at his home he presented his wife with the flower.

His wife said, “OH MY LORD! What kind of a royal flower is this? Thank you so much dear! Did you bring the vegetables?”

Her husband immediately had a worried look on his face and said, “Oh! I forgot to bring the vegetables dear!”

His wife angrily said, “You are so careless.”

And threw away the flower out of the window.

“I cannot cook this flower for dinner. Go and get the vegetables!” She said sternly. The man immediately rushed off!

The flower lay on the dusty road and a cart ran over it. It was crushed and was no longer beautiful. Then the arrogant flower realised that we should never look down on others.

Image courtesy: deviantart.com