Dove Orchid
By Rachel Alberti
The garden was a happy place.
Colors bloomed from rosy tulips, sunny daffodils, and stunning lilacs. Every spring, the bees and butterflies would come to the garden to visit. Each time, the flowers would sway in delight of their friends' arrival. But, in the corner behind some rocks, there stood a tiny dove orchid, light in color and dark in mood. For the poor orchid felt as if she did not belong in that garden - she was far too plain compared to the others. Whenever the insects came to say hello, they would always go to the more interesting flowers, like the buttercups or the lilies, and the little orchid would shy away, leaning down towards the dirt in hopes to not draw any attention to herself.
One day, as the other flowers were chatting with a new butterfly who had come to visit, a tiny bumblebee flew over towards the orchid. She immediately took cover, letting the passing wind knock her figure lower to the ground. She peeked out through the pebbles in front of her, to see the bee buzzing around, seemingly curious. He looked around, and suddenly made eye contact with the little flower behind the rocks.
"Hey!" he exclaimed with all the excitement of a child. "Who are you? I cannot see your face."
The dove orchid froze - she had never had any insect come to talk to her, much less anyone at all.
"Go away." she whispered, terrified he would draw more attention to her. The bee tilted his head, obviously confused.
"But why? Don't you talk to the other flowers? And the bees and the butterflies?"
His questions nearly overwhelmed her. She sank lower behind the rocks, hoping to lose his interest.
"Just go away, please," she could barely recognize her own voice. "The other flowers don't talk to me. I don't belong in this garden. I'm kind of...alone over here." She gasped, and stopped talking. She hadn't meant to tell this stranger so much. The wind blew again, and she shivered. The bee frowned, and landed on one of the rocks.
"I would like very much to talk to you. You seem nice." he insisted. The orchid sighed - she obviously wasn't going to get rid of this bug any time soon.
"You don't get it," her tone became more forced. "I really don't talk to anyone. Nobody talks to me, so I don't talk to anyone."
The bee gave her a cheeky smile. "But...you're talking to me, aren't you?"
The orchid glared at him, as much as a flower could possibly give a bumblebee.
"Just go away." she muttered. So the bee went away, along with his family.
The next day, the same group of bugs arrived at the garden. The orchid peeked out from among the rocks, and luckily did not see the bothersome bee that she had encountered the day before. She determined that she would go back to her regular routine of hiding behind the stones and watching the others interact.
"Boo!" The dove orchid nearly jumped out of the dirt. There he was, the same bee from before. He had hid behind her, so she wouldn't know he was there. She was so surprised, she turned around to see who had made the noise. The bee smiled - he finally got her to show her face. And to him, she seemed the most gorgeous in the entire garden. Her pure white color shone brighter than any of the blossoming blues and yellows and pinks of the other flowers. Her petals looked soft to the touch, but he wouldn't dare reach out unless he knew he could. This bee knew how to respect flowers like her. He smiled sadly. She'll never be mine. He thought to himself. Her voice brought him out of his train of thought.
"Excuse you!" she exclaimed, her angry tone becoming lost in the phrase. For on the inside she felt rather curious - why did this bee come back to her? Didn't he know that she was supposed to be alone? That nobody ever would appreciate her?
