Rose and Cactus

In a garden that was really coming along a rose was in bloom. The rose was very pretty. She knew it. She took a lot of pride in how she looked. But there was one thing that bothered her all the time. She had to grow next to a cactus that was not very nice to look at.

Every day the rose would say mean things to the cactus. The other flowers in the garden would tell her to stop being so mean. She would not listen. She just kept on saying things.

One day a pine tree was talking to another tree. The pine tree said that she wished she was as pretty as the rose. The other tree told her that nobody is perfect and you cannot have everything you want. The rose heard what they were saying. She said-

“I do not have anything to worry about. I am the flower in the garden and I have everything I want.”

A sunflower was. She said-

“You cannot be serious. There are a lot of flowers in this garden. You are one of many.”

The rose did not listen to the sunflower. She kept saying that she was the prettiest and that everyone who came to the garden wanted to see her. She even said mean things to the cactus.

This made all the other flowers in the garden upset. They told the rose that beauty is what you think is pretty and that you should not say mean things to others. They also reminded her that she had thorns too.

The rose did not listen. She kept saying things. The cactus on the hand was very calm and nice. He said that everything is made for a reason.

Then summer. It was very hot. The rose started to wilt because of the sun. One day she saw a bird pecking at the cactus. She asked the pine tree what was going on. The pine tree said that the bird was getting water from the cactus. The cactus was letting the bird have water even though it hurt him.

The rose felt bad. She had been mean to the cactus. Now she needed his help.. She was too proud to ask. Finally she asked the cactus for help. He said yes. He let the birds take water from him. They gave it to the rose.

The rose was very thankful. She learned that she should not have been so mean to the cactus. The cactus was a kind and helpful plant.