The Delay..

Once there was a garden of beautiful roses having different coloured roses. It was a home for many insects and birds. Children used to play in the park and the old people would assemble there for chit-chat. For everyone the garden held a special place in the heart.

The youngsters would often use it as a jogging track or for doing meditation. Among them there was a girl named Rose and just like her name she loved roses. She would often visit this garden with her friends and she was fond of nature.

From many days Rose had been observing one thing that a small little bird keep roaming around a white rose always although the garden was full of different colour roses. She always wondered what was special in that white rose which looked just like an ordinary flower to her.

Out of her curiosity she started visiting the garden daily and kept watch on the bird and the white Rose.

All she found that was the bird kept flying around the white flower happily forgetting everything else.

One day the flower was just fed up of this little birdie and asked it, ’why do you always keep roaming around just me when the garden is full of other beautiful roses ?’ and the bird happily replied that it was in love with that white flower.

The flower found it to be embarrassing and decided to get rid of the bird.”. One day it made a plan and told the bird “see , I am all white in colour but the day my colour turns to Red I will be all yours”.

For one moment the birdie just laughed at itself and then started happily dancing around the white flower. The flower thought that it had gone mad. But it wouldn’t stop and Rose was watching all this happen.

Soon she saw that the little bird was bleeding, there were thorns around the White Rose bush and the bird deliberately hurt itself so that blood comes out and gets sprinkled on the white rose to make it look red. Rose too thought that the bird had gone mad. But the bird continued dancing all around the white rose till its last breadth getting itself pierced with the thorns. The blood which poured out of its body due to the thorns made the white rose look really deep red.

After some time the bird was lying down in the pool of blood gasping for breath with the rose lying beside it whom it  loved dearly, now red in colour. The flower immediately understood its mistake and understood how much the bird loved it. The rose was now ashamed of its behaviour and tried to wake up the bird but it wouldn’t move a bit. It lay lifeless. Rose found that it was dead and lying just besides the red flower. The flower now lamented its action and was muttering to itself weeping profusely ‘ sorry dear friend I always took your love for granted and never ever accepted your feelings for me.. Please come back just once and I shall all be yours now…’

But time and tide wait for none. The bird lay lifeless happily sacrificing its life for the flower whereas, no lament could not console the flower.

When Rose went home she pondered on the whole thing and the mere thought of the little bird’s love made her weep. She understood that even thought the bird knew that the flower can never turn itself to red colour but just to keep the promise it sacrificed its life and died for its love.

Aren’t we also sometimes delaying in accepting and expressing our love for others?They can be anyone- our parents, children, beloveds, friends, pets… Are we sometimes taking each other’s love and care for granted?

Why do we need proof from someone to prove his or her love?

Sometimes life never gives a second chance and its better we EXPECT less and ACCEPT each other more and love each other unconditionally and EXPRESS IT before it’s too late. Because true love is seldom found and once it is lost it is hard to find again.

Love is when your ‘ Bye’ starts a deeper conversation than your ‘Hi’. But we never know whether its a final Goodbye… SO DON’T DELAY..

Waiting for comments. Please share if you like it.

Archana Prabhune