All we need is love

Beauty can be compared to a double-edge sword. It can make people love you and hate you at the same time. Everyone wants to love and be loved in return. Everyone wants to be accepted for whom they really are but up to what extent will you go just to be accepted? Can you sacrifice everything just for the sake of being loved?

A long time ago, there was a small town surrounded by a vast rain forest located near the bottom of the mountain. The peaceful town of Alkaro is a haven for hardworking people. With ample resources coming from the forest, its citizens are quite a handful but exerts a lot of effort to put them into good use. In the middle of this town, an old orphanage can be found. Unknown to all, a new chapter is about to unfold.

One night, a hail of snow started falling, someone came by the door of the orphanage, waking everyone in sight. When the caretaker opened the door, all he saw was a basket with a letter saying, “Please take care of my baby boy, Ross.”. He took the baby inside and decided to keep him. Unknown to him, two tearful blue orbs were watching outside. “Goodbye my child”, she said as she disappeared from sight.

Nine years have passed since that faithful night, The baby who was brought in and cared for by the caretaker grew up into a handsome young boy. He has two emerald eyes staring deep into your soul. He has short brown locks swaying smoothly with wind. He has a strong mind but has a weak heart so he was not allowed to go out and play with the other children very often. He was always alone and doesn’t have any friends. Even with his incredible good looks, he still finds it very hard to interact with other people.

When someone approaches him to have a conversation, he feels overjoyed and unconsciously glares at the person. He becomes too nervous to talk and eventually driving away the person with his endless squabble of words that cannot be understood. Some people tend to stay away and thought that he was too proud and no one was good enough for him. Some kids envy him for his looks and intellect so he was often bullied especially by the boys. He was too weak to even defend himself.

Because of this, he closed his heart to almost everyone and didn’t talk to anyone anymore except for the man who took him in. The old caretaker became his father figure and only friend. The boy would always follow him around and help him take care of the garden in the backyard. The garden was only small but the flowers were very pretty. He envied the flowers for they receive constant tender loving care and would make people happy by just looking at them.

One day, When Ross was helping out, he saw a very pretty flower at the corner of the field. He touched it but he only got pricked by the thorns protecting it. He cried and came running to the old man. “Grandpa. Grandpa. the bad little flower pricked me. I only touched it for a moment because it was so pretty. Does the flower hate me too? Did I do something wrong again to be hated? Is that why my parents left me here?”, he cried.

The man bandaged the injured finger and patted his head. “ My child, I love you just the way you are. The flower you are talking about is called a rose. That flower is just like you. Because it is very pretty, it gains a lot of attention. Without its thorns, it will get picked on easily and will only wither and die before realizing its own true beauty. The thorns serves as its protector so that it can grow up to what it was born to be in the first place.”

He held his hand and they went to see the rose again. The child hid at the back of the old man and held his shirt tightly. “Don’t be afraid, Ross! Look, the flower is very sad. Because of its thorns, no one dares to come near so it is always alone. Don’t you feel the same way? All it wants is to be cared for like everyone else. Won’t you become its friend?”

The boy hesitated for a moment and looked at it again. He awed at its beauty and made a decision. “If I became its friend, will I be hurt again?”, Ross asked. “There are times when you love with all you have but still manage to get hurt as well. To love means accepting the pain that comes with it. Taking the first step to start something is very hard and you won’t know where it may take you. It can bring you a lot of hardships at the beginning but it can also give you the happiness you deserve after you did your best.”

The boy nodded and agreed to take care of it. Everyday he would go to the garden to visit his friend. He spent a lot of time working in the garden, making sure that every flower was taken care of properly. He would always go back inside all covered in mud. He was ridiculed by his fellow children for being so dirty. He didn’t care too much now about what people would think of him. Even if he got bullied, he would just slide it off and leave.

Because he kept ignoring all their childish insults, The bullies made a plan and followed him. They saw him went to the garden and found out about his gardening hobby. They thought it was girly and snickered. They planned to destroy his garden afterwards. They waited until he was gone and trampled upon the garden. They left laughing hysterically, having a sense of fulfillment on their evil deed.

When the morning came, Ross came to tend to his garden again. He was devastated at first when he saw what happened to his precious garden. Almost all of his friends got pulled out except for one. He smiled inwardly and felt relieved. “At least one of you is safe… You really are a hard shell to crack, aren’t you? We really are one and the same.”

The bullies came again to look at his pitiful reaction but were surprised to see a frown turned upside down. “Hey girly, rub that stupid smile off your stupid face!”, the leader of the bullies interrupted. “We’ve already destroyed your garden so why are you still smiling? Doing this kind of thing is a girl’s job. Aren’t you a real man? Hahahaha…”

He looked at him intently before answering back. He stifled his laughter but had a serious look when he said, “If being a real man is to show brute force and prey on the weak, then I would still choose to be called girly and be proud of who I am. For true strength comes out when you have enough courage to accept your flaws and turn them to your advantage. You’re the one who should be ashamed of yourself. A real man fights his own battles on his own.”

Furious from the insult he got, he rushed towards the remaining rose to trample upon it. But before he could do that, Ross throws himself in front of the flower to protect it. But the collision didn’t happen, the bully stopped himself. “It’s not fun anymore when someone gets hurt, stupid. Let’s go.” They left the garden, leaving Ross in a state of laughter. “Does that mean they’ve accepted me? What a relief. ”, he smiled. “From now on, my friend, I will be your thorns.”

THE END

~ by milkyway17 on September 9, 2009.