Siya and the Red Rose

On her winter vacation, Siya decided to visit her Grandpa. She loved his garden and the colourful flowers and the tall trees that grew there.

"Wow! Grandpa, how lovely these roses are!" she exclaimed as soon as her eyes fell on the beautiful red roses in the garden.

"Yes, winter is the season for the roses to bloom and become bright and beautiful," Grandpa smiled.

""Grandpa, can I please help you in gardening?" Siya asked.

"Of-course, Siya, come," he replied and went off to fetch his Trowel. Siya too quickly collected the watering can to water the plants.

Once in the garden, Grandpa began to dig holes in the ground to plant new seeds that would grow into big trees some day and Siya began watering the plants to nourish them.

When she came close to the rose plant, she couldn't help admiring its beauty and plucked one of the red rose and inhaled its sweet smell. Grandpa saw her plucking it, but didn't say anything then, but only smiled to himself.

Four days later, one morning Siya came crying to her Grandpa carrying the rose she had plucked.

"What happened, Siya baby?" he asked.

"Grandpa, look the red rose that I had plucked some days ago had dried and turned blackish in colour and had even lost its smell," Siya sobbed.

"This was destined to happen, Siya. The moment you pluck a flower from a tree, it dies, and slowly it dries up, losing all its beauty, colour and smell," Grandpa explained.

"But… but… Grandpa, I wanted to show it to my friends back at school. How could I show it to them now? It has lost all its beauty," Siya said as tears soaked her face.

"Don't cry, Siya. I have nice solution for you…," Grandpa smiled and went inside his room.

He unlocked his Almirah and took out a small box wrapped in a gift packet. He then gave it to Siya.

"What is it, Grandpa?" Siya asked, curious.

"Open it and see for yourself," Grandpa smiled.

Siya rubbed the tears off her eyes, ripped off the wrappers, undid the pack and out came a beautiful small digital camera.

"A camera!" Siya exclaimed.

"Yes, my dear. In this camera you can capture all the flowers of my gardens and then show it to your friends, without even plucking any of them," Grandpa explained.

" Oh, Wow! Thank you, Grandpa," Siya jumped in excitement and hugged her grandpa.