Origins[Completed]

Epilogue

The Little Green Flower of Hopes and Dreams - A Short Story by Aera Noble

There once was a story of a Yellow Rose.

Her petals shun so brightly that the neighbouring flowers always referenced it to the sun. Her green thorns, as dangerous as they appeared, gave of a feeling of love and harmony upon all who gazed at her.

She was the most beautiful flower in the Forest. To compliment her outer beauty, her inner nature was just as pure. Having one of the most generous and caring hearts of the Forest, the Yellow Rose always did her best for the good of the forest and it's plants and trees.

She always had one goal in mind: 'To Protect the Forest'.

When she had become a mature plant, the Yellow Rose became a protector of the Forest. The Forest Chief had dubbed her a [Forest Guardian].

"Now, Yellow Rose," the Chief spoke. "What is your dream?"

The Yellow Rose hesitated not in the slightest as she answered, making sure her feelings are poured into those words.

"I want to protect the Forest, my Chief."

The Chief listened to her speak and silently nodded. As if processing what he just heard he spoke, carefully choosing her words.

"Listen well, Yellow Rose. Your goals and ambitions are admirable, but it seems to me that you have not found your dream yet."

Yellow Rose touched one of her petals in thought.

"My dream?" She repeated the words. When the Chief had first asked her the question, she was certain that she had given the correct answer, but now the manner sound more nuanced in some way. Repeating the words "To protect the Forest" had become difficult.

"I see…" The Chief nodded. "So you have yet to find your dream. I understand."

Even though his words sounded as if he had been disappointed, the Chief had actually been elated. He was glad to know that although Yellow Rose was the most ambitious in the Forest, she was still a plant like everyone else.

"Continue to protect the village, Yellow Rose. But…" He paused. "If you do not have an answer as your dream truly is in the next year, I will be forced to remove you as a [Forest Guardian]."

"… Understood," Yellow Rose assented.

And with that, for the first time since she been a seedling, Yellow Rose had come into contact with a strange sensation. A sensation she had not been expecting or had been prepared for at all. A sensation that no one would expect to be had by a flower as perfect and as righteous as her.

What had been that sensation? That strange feeling?

It was the feeling of uncertainty.

What does it mean to have a dream? What exactly is a dream? Why am I so uncertain now?

With that feeling in her heart, Yellow Rose committed to finding a dream.

A month passed.

Yellow Rose continued doing everything the same as she always had. She protected the Forest from dangers; She helped the elders in the Forest; She also taught the little seedlings about the adventures that she's had. It was a fun experience teaching seedlings. If any one was asked if there was something wrong with Yellow Rose, all of them would say no.

Except for one.

Adventurous Root, a descendant of a dangerous line of plants that always cause trouble for the Forest. He was always under the vigilant eye of the Forest even though he had never gotten into trouble for doing anything wrong. He may have been a descendant, but he was nowhere close to the troublemaker the Forest sees him as.