The bouquet

The first thing she did when she got up was go to the garden to water her rosebush and talk to it. There were many rosebushes but this one was special. It had long stems and gave one bud per stem, they were pale pink. She would stroke it, stroke the leaves and tell it: you have to give me a flower for the 20th of September. She and her fiancé had decided to marry on the 21st in church, since they had met on the day of spring at a student gathering of university students celebrating the arrival of spring.

The preparations for the wedding were countless: the celebration, the dressmaker, the invitations, etc. She was very busy but the visit to the rosebush was never missed. It seemed the plant heard her and after a few days a small bud appeared that was slowly growing and taking shape. At the final fitting of the dress the dressmaker showed her several bouquets so she could decide which one she'd carry, but she chose none, she would decide at the last moment.

On the 20th her bud was beautiful, carefully and without telling anyone she cut it. She sought out the most important and expensive flower shop in the city, the one that prepared spectacular bridal bouquets. She went with her bud and asked for a bouquet whose center would be that one. They showed her several and she chose one where the flower was surrounded by small white and pink rococo roses.

On the afternoon of the 21st the bouquet arrived, the friends who had come to help the dressmaker dress her, all fell silent before such beauty, in the middle of which her pink bud shone like a queen. The ceremony was simple and moving but... on the way out... everyone began demanding she throw the bouquet, they shouted you have to throw the bouquet. She felt terrible anguish but she couldn't break tradition. With eyes full of tears, she kissed the bouquet and threw it. Her best friend caught it.

Already at the party she called her over and said: «Can I ask you a favor?» «Of course.» «Keep the bouquet, I know flowers wither, but I want to keep it so that one day I can show it to my children and I'll tell them that all living things, plants, animals, respond to love, and I'll tell them the story of my rosebush.»