The Pretty Flower and the Apple Tree

A pretty flower and an apple tree were side by side on a hill one spring.

The flower had a very thin stem and her petals were large and colorful. She was quite delicate and any change in the weather had a chance at damaging her, but anytime there was a visitor to their hill, everyone gravitated to the flower. She drew them in with her voluptuous (and enhanced) petals and her delicate nature made people want to take care of her. The flower thought to herself, "Why should I do anything for myself when I can have people take care of me?"  The flower became filled with unwarranted self importance. She took an immense amount of pleasure in being only visual appealing. She didn't even try to grow her roots deeper. She didn't even try to grow. She was happy being the tiny, pretty flower. Just that and nothing more.

The apple tree looked down at the flower and was confused that no one wanted to come and sit near her. The apple tree was obviously much sturdier. She was taller and thicker, and while she didn't have large petals, she was very happy with the apples her tree made naturally. She had long, thick, strong limbs that could provide shelter and an abundance of leaves that provided glorious shade on those hotter days which also made perfect kindling for those colder nights. The apple tree was proud of herself for being able to take care of herself. She liked having substance. She liked knowing that she had more to offer than a thin stem and pretty petals. But still, she thought to herself, "Why am I alone when I have so much to offer? Why can't I be more like the flower? Everyone seems to love the flower."

The flower had several visitors.

Some stayed for just moments while others stayed for days.

When the visitors were gone, the flower failed miserably as it didn't know how to just be a normal flower. It never learned how to grow. It never learned the importance of roots to gain stability and it never learned how to nourish itself.

The apple tree always tried to tell the flower during these moments how important it was to be more than just pretty. The apple tree wanted the flower to expand and grow. The apple tree wanted the flower to place its roots on more than a superficial level. The flower always leaned towards the apple tree's words in these off moments and the apple tree always hoped that this time the flower would finally see the wisdom in her words, but then, a new visitor would come, and the flower would go back to her old ways and ignore the apple tree's advice.

The apple tree just shook her leaves and thought to herself, "Someone soon will see all that I have to offer and that person will stay with me always. Someone will see that I am more than a pretty face and that I can, not only take care of myself, but them as well. I will just have to be patient."

Spring turned to summer and summer turned to fall.

The apple tree had perfect apples that she wanted to share and her leaves were a beautiful color that she wished someone would notice, but still, all eyes were on the flower.

The flower hadn't changed with the seasons. She remained the same frail, vain flower she always was. She smiled smugly up at the apple tree and said, "This man wants to take me from this hill and move me to his house. He says that this hill is no place for a beauty such as me, especially with winter coming. He wants to take care of me."

The apple tree, now full of gorgeous apples and her leaves gleaming all shades of golden and russet in the fall sunset, looked down at the flower and attempted to give her one last piece of advice. "Please learn to take care of yourself because eventually your petals will fall and you will have nothing to offer even yourself."

As the flower never let her roots grow deep, the man easily extracted the flower from the hill and took her home.

The apple tree remained on the hill and was now all alone.

It was now winter.

The cold was biting and the apple tree longed to have someone come and rescue her from the cold, but as the days drifted by, she began to lose hope.

There were no more visitors to the hill as the flower was no longer there and the apple tree had lost her leaves and her apples in the harsh weather, but her roots were deep so even as the wind ripped through her, it could not move her. The weather was ever changing, from rain, to hail, to snow, freezing her down to her core, but she relished in the water that the elements provided and it made her stronger despite how bad it hurt her.

The snow began to thaw and it started to get warmer again.

The snow dripped off the apple tree's branches and her leaves began to tentatively bloom...each a beautiful flower in its own right... but no one was there to see how beautiful her flowers were. No one saw how strong she was. No one cared that she took care of herself. No one cared that she was made of substance. No one cared. The apple tree was alone.

She had withstood the winter, but spring did not bring hope.

Spring reinforced that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and if there is no one there to behold the beauty, it does not exist.

The apple tree was alone on a hill...