Bedtime - A Short Story Anthology

The Sky Flower

The Sky Flower

by N-Joys

Once upon a time, in a small forest, there was a story that was told to anyone who wanted to hear it.

This story was about a star in the sky, the brightest star who had the power to grant the greatest wish of whoever asked it.

To have a wish granted, you just had to go see the stark and ask. It didn't want anything in return, not a single little thank you, but was content with seeing the happiness about a wish come true.

In this small forest, all the creatures had met the star and asked for things important to them.

The parrot wished he could speak like humans so they would understand it, and the star granted it to him. The deer asked for beautiful and powerful antlers in order to be the most majestic of animals, and he got it.

The monkey, a joker, asked for a long tail so he could swing from the branches.

The malicious ant asked to be the smallest creature with the idea of entering everywhere and being able to hide better.

The trees requested to be tall, to extend towards the sky and get the most rays of the sun.

The rose, wanting to be pretty, wished to have the most beautiful colors to decorate the earth.

All the beings of the forest received what they asked from the star ...

All but one.

A small dandelion that had grown under a large tree.

It was small, alone, rooted in the shade of the tree which reveled in its size and strength.

It received no sunlight. Even when the sun shifted and tried to touch the small flower, another large tree blocked its path.

He couldn't move, rooted in the earth. The running animals trampled him, the falling rain did not touch him.

Slowly, it withered in the hot winds, finding no nourishment in the earth, as the tree took up all the space.

Then, one day, a bird flew close by, so close it almost tore off a small petal. But the dandelion dodged it and a very fine white feather of the bird fell in front of the little dandelion.

He looked at the feather and the bird which was already far away. Then an idea occurred to him.

What if he could fly? What if he had wings like a bird? He might go far from here, to new places, where the rain would touch him, where the sun would illuminate him. It could even settle near a river, resting in the shade of a dead tree or in the grass. It would meet new friends and no longer be the target of the mockery of the trees around him.

This was its wish, the one it wanted to ask the star.

But, how to go see the star and ask him to have wings?

The dandelion was stuck in the ground. It couldn't leave.

It asked the trees to convey his wish to the star high up in the sky. With their sizes, they could reach it.

But they laughed at him saying, "you, where do you want to go? You are too small, too insignificant, too fragile. Don't annoy those who have work to do! The star has better things to do than listen to creatures like you."

So it asked the bird to carry him to the sky. But it answered him, "If I uproot you, you will die. And I will be cursed for killing you. Besides, a flower stays on the earth. This is where it belongs, not in the sky."

He asked many other forest beings. But they refused to help him.

One night, crying to himself, he didn't hear the breeze approaching.

"Why are you crying, Little Dandelion?" she asked him.

"Oh, Breeze, I wish I could see the star and ask it to grant my wish. But I am on the earth and the sky is too far away. I cannot move. And, since I'm not a beautiful flower, no one wants to help me."

"I could help you if you were a little lighter. I could carry you with me to the sky."

"I wish I were light enough so you could take me to see the star."

The breeze left him to his fate. He stayed there, under the snoring tree, and fell asleep.

The next day, a glow flickered over him. He woke up different than yesterday, white and fluffy.

All of nature approached him, wondering if he really was the yellow dandelion of yesterday.

The breeze came and said to him, "Is that you, Little Dandelion? I hardly recognized you! You have become all white and light. I think I can take you now to see the star."

The little dandelion was happy to let itself be carried by the breeze. It flew to the sky in a thousand little flakes, all the seeds it was composed of.

Finally, it reached the star and asked it to give him wings so he could fly around the world.

But the star answered him, "Come on, little Dandelion! You don't need it anymore. How did you manage to get to the sky? You are already flying."

The little dandelion noticed it was true and that it could fly in the wind.

So, it went away quite happily, flying high and higher, carried by his friend, the breeze.

Like a flower that decorates the Earth, it decorated the sky ...