The Rose of Sharon

Once upon a time, there was a garden in the land of the unblemished, called the Garden of Cinagro. To say that the garden was a place of beauty was an understatement. It was bursting with colours which boasted of all range of hues. The fragrance could permeate one’s soul and saturate one’s senses with its glorious beauty to the state of tranquillity. And the place was humming with life. The garden was practically oozing with life. And it was the envy of all the other gardeners.

Why was it special?

Why was it different from the rest of the gardens?

It was because of the person who tended it. He was known as The Gardener.

He knew each and every plant and flower, every leaf, every petal, and every single vein that was on each leaf. He knew which plant needed His extra, special care on that particular day. He knew which weeds were beneficial for the community of the garden. He knew the exact spot to plant each and every single plant so that they would flourish and bloom to their maximum potential.

And He knew that The Day was drawing near.

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The flowers were excited as they were beginning to bloom. They could not wait to show off their beauty to the other gardens and gardeners. They knew that they were the best that ever existed. And in the midst of all the excited chattering, there was a plant that was still in its dormant stage. No one knew what plant that was. But it was different from the rest. The odd thing was that it had lavender, garlic and chives as its companions. That was definitely one odd looking combination. But the Gardener knew what He was doing. And that plant was in a pot!

'What do you think that thing is?' asked Miss Daisy.

'I haven't the faintest idea!' said Miss Zinnia.

'I think it's a retard plant! I mean garlic as your companion?? It stinks to the high heavens!' cackled Miss Sunflower.

'Pity the Lavenders that they have to stand the stink as well,' said Miss Marigold.

‘And it’s in a POT! Haha! I think it’s a potty plant!’ retorted Miss Rose.

And they waited with extreme curiosity for the day that the plant would bloom.

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It was on the third day of the eighth month that THE plant finally started showing signs of life. The leaves started to grow out of its scrawny frame. It was nothing like the flowers in the garden. It was unique. One of its kind. And it stood out among the rest.

Her name was Sharon.

And she was known as the Rose of Sharon.

'Sharon?! What kind of name is that?' asked Miss Rose. 'She doesn't even look like a rose! Not even close!'

'She's a retard I tell you,' said Miss Sunflower.

'She's a late bloomer that's for sure,' said Miss Zinnia.

‘Or maybe she’s dying,' replied Miss Carnation.

The Gardener walked in and the flowers all hushed up and perked up and behaved at their best. He gave them their usual watering and vitamins and then tended to the Rose of Sharon. And He started to PRUNE THE PLANT!

The rest of the flowers gasped in shock. The plant had bloomed late and yet it was being pruned! And it was being shaped into a tiny tree! When the Gardener was satisfied with his work, He gave the plant an extra dose of vitamins and stood up. And He addressed His garden.

‘My beloved garden, I will be away for a short period of time. During this time, I request that you watch out for each other and that you stay WITHIN the boundaries of this garden. Do NOT drink from anywhere except from the fountain which is in the middle of the garden. If you drink from the fountains beyond this garden, you will die. I will see you all when I return. Remember My words.’ And He left.

‘Where is He going?’ asked Miss Zinnia.

‘I heard that He goes to His father’s house to replenish our vitamin stock. His father’s store house has the best vitamins in the world!’ replied Miss Sunflower.

And the flowers all hemmed and hawed in wonder.

‘I wonder what the Rose of Sharon will look like when He returns!’ smirks Miss Rose. ‘I mean, look at HER! She’s scrawny and now she looks like a tree but is not a tree. And she has not even bloomed a SINGLE flower! What a disgrace she is to our garden. Why on earth would The Gardener keep her?’

‘Maybe He pities her,’ said Miss Periwinkle.

‘Whatever,’ said Miss Rose. 'I am going to catch my beauty sleep.'

As the dusk approached, they all hung down their flower heads and went to sleep.

The days went by with nothing out of the ordinary happening. The flowers drank from the garden’s fountain as instructed by The Gardener and distracted themselves with their daily gossip. And the Rose of Sharon grew in stature and it bloomed during the fifth week. And when it bloomed, it caused a series of events to unfold.

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‘OH MY GOD!’ screamed Miss Rose.

‘Wake up all of you! Look!!!’

In their garden was a swarm of Japanese beetles helping themselves to the flowers. They were everywhere!

‘Why are they here? When did they arrive?’ cried Miss Zinnia.

‘I saw about 3 to 4 of them hovering around the Rose of Sharon when she started to bloom last week. But I did not give it much thought as they all went away,’ explained Miss Daisy.

‘Well, they are not eating her flowers, they are eating OURS!’ screamed Miss Sunflower.

‘What are we to do? What are we to do?’ wailed Miss Vinca.

‘Where is The Gardener? Why has He not returned?’ asked Miss Violet. ‘

Well, we’ll just have to ask that whatever-her-name-is as to why the beetles are not attacking her flowers,’ said Miss Rose.

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‘Hey YOU!’ shouted Miss Rose. ‘Why are your flowers spared? Why aren’t the beetles eating your flowers but ours?’

The Rose of Sharon was very irritated at being talked to so rudely.

‘I have a name and it’s called Sharon. And there is such a thing as courtesy. If you want to ask me something, do not shout at me. Ask me in a polite manner,’ replied the Rose of Sharon.

Miss Rose was insulted!

‘How dare she talk to me like that? She’s not even a rose and she dares to teach me! Who the hell does she think she is?’ fumed Miss Rose.

Miss Rose glared at Sharon and left in a huff.

‘Well, what did she say?’ asked the rest when Miss Rose returned.

‘She chastised me! Who the bloody hell she thinks she is? I AM the rose! Not her! She has a stamen and she does not even have the smell of a rose!!!! She’s a BITCH!!!!!’ thundered Miss Rose.

‘Well, what do we do now? The beetles are invading us by the dozens. If they keep up at this rate, we’ll be gone by tonight,’ cried Miss Vinca.

Thus, the flowers spend the whole day trying to chase the beetles away. Many flowers were eaten up. And many flowers died. And the remnant flowers of that day fell asleep of exhaustion that night.

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The next day was even worse than the day before. The Japanese beetles were invading the garden by the hundreds. Miss Sunflower went to the Rose of Sharon in desperation and begged her to help them. And it was a very simple reason to why the beetles did not attack her flowers. The beetles found the smell of the garlic to be a big turn-off. Miss Sunflower thanked Sharon profusely and ran back to the flowers with the excited news.

‘It’s the garlic! It’s the garlic!’ Miss Sunflower cried with relief.

‘Well, The Gardener did plant garlic AND chives around us one month before He had left. What happened to them?’ asked Miss Violet.

Silence ensued. And all eyes turned to a very guilty looking Miss Rose.

‘What did you do this time Rose?’ asked a very weary Miss Daisy. ‘I…. I stomped on them during the night and made sure they didn’t survive. I did not want to smell like garlic. They stink. It would have destroyed my rose scent,’ said a subdued Miss Rose.

‘Well, I am sure now we are now surviving very well indeed,’ Miss Periwinkle dryly remarked.

‘What are we to do now?’ asked Miss Sunflower.

‘I have already lost a petal to a beetle,’ whined Miss Zinnia.

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Unbeknownst to them, a snake had slithered up to them upon seeing their distress.

‘What seems to be the problem my beautiful ladies?’ the snake hissed.

On a normal day, they would certainly not converse with a snake. But being exhausted and desperate, they saw no harm in talking to one. What could be worse? And they told him the dire situation that they were in.

‘Did The Gardener really say that you are not supposed to drink from any other fountain except the one in the middle of your garden?’ asked the snake?

‘Oh yes, He did. He said that we would die if we drank from any other fountain,’ replied Miss Sunflower.

‘Oh, but you certainly WON’T die! In fact, the other fountains offer a much better drinking water. It will prolong your life, cause your flowers to have that extra luster and you will have immunity against pests and diseases,’ hissed the snake.

‘Why don’t you give it a try? I mean, what harm can one try do?’

Some of the flowers balked at the idea of going against The Gardener’s last words. But some of them swayed at the idea. The Rose of Sharon came to them upon seeing the snake and told them to not speak to it and instead to gather themselves around her pot.

'Who do you think you are? You are certainly not my master and I do not take instructions from a rose-wannabe!' shouted Miss Rose to the Rose of Sharon.

'I'll do it!' said Miss Rose. ‘I’ll go drink the water.'

‘Good!’ hissed the snake. ‘Follow me and I will show you the finest water that you have ever tasted.’

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Miss Rose followed the snake out of the garden and into another garden down the path. She was fascinated as she had never been out of the garden before. It was so different from her garden. And the silence struck her.

As if the snake had heard her thoughts, he answered, ‘The beetles aren’t here because the water in the other gardens are enriched with extra minerals and nutrients that strengthen the flowers. Thus, it makes them resistant towards their attacks.’

‘Wow! I wish that I had known this earlier,’ thought Miss Rose.

They finally arrived at the fountain and the smell of the water was totally different from the one that was in her garden.

‘Drink! And you will see the difference. Trust me,’ hissed the snake.

And Miss Rose took a sip and that sip awoken her senses like never before. And she was hooked on it instantly. She drank as much as she could and she brought back some of it for her fellow flowers. And that pleased the snake very much.

Soon, the majority of the garden went over to the other fountain and drank lavishly from it. And in a short period of time, they developed a glow that they never had before and the beetles flew away and left them alone.

And Miss Rose was very pleased with her accomplishments. She was the heroine that had saved the garden. And only a handful of flowers had gathered themselves around the Rose of Sharon.

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The moment The Gardener stepped into the garden, all the flowers could feel His wrath and fury. And they were afraid as The Gardener has never been this angry before.

‘Why did you disobey Me?’ He asked.

The whole garden was stifled with silence.

'I asked, WHY DID YOU DISOBEY ME?!'

'Answer Me!!!'

‘Wh.. wh.. What do You mean, Master?’ stammered Miss Rose.

‘Did I not tell you not to drink from the other fountains? Did I not tell you to stay WITHIN the garden? Did I not say that you only drink from the fountain in this garden?!!’ roared The Gardener.

Miss Rose timidly replied, ‘Well, yes, but You see, the beetles were destroying us. And the haughty Sharon chastised me when she's not even a ROSE when I asked her for help. And the serpent said…’

‘ENOUGH!’ shouted The Gardener. ‘I had a reason in placing the garlic bulbs and chives all around the garden. I had a reason in commanding that you drink only from My fountain. The fountains outside of this garden are laced with chemicals, pesticides and insecticides! Why do you think you have that glow? It’s the poison!!! You have defiled yourselves and MY garden!’ bellowed The Gardener.

‘And of all things to listen to: a SERPENT! Have none of my advice taken root in that flower head of yours?’

All the flowers were silenced in fear and regret.

‘There is only one solution,’ said The Gardener. ‘I will have to start anew.'

'Well, that's not that hard. All He has to do is to replant us and....' thought Miss Rose.

'From scratch.'

'Without. All. Of. You.'

The flowers started to panic. Without them? What does He mean without them? They were His flowers. He was their Gardener. Their Master.

'You are leaving us?' asked Miss Sunflower.

'I have no choice. You all are saturated with the poison,' said The Gardener.

He took His sickle and chopped down all the flowers. There was a great massacre in the garden that day. He then set fire to the garden and burned up all the dead plants. He then broke down and cried.

The garden burned for a few days before the fire finally sizzled out. And then the heavens opened up and rained like never before. And then a rainbow appeared and He said that never again will He burn the garden. The Gardener and the remnants of the garden looked up to the sky and watched the rainbow slowly fade away.

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500 years later...

The Gardener's garden was the best that ever was. And in this garden was a variety of flowers and plants that were the grandest in the world. The Rose of Sharon had grown in might and in stature. And she was envied by many.

In a distance, unbeknownst by many, was a creature with a forked tongue observing the garden with great interest...