The Desert & The Red rose.

The Desert & The Red rose.

_che.

The desert have seen hottest of the hot days, survived without a drop of water, witnessed the venomous snakes, has been through the night cold winds that freezes the beings to death. But for the first time the desert saw a red rose. Her tender curves folded and unfolded into whirls forming a maze of beauty. A maze with only entrance and no exit. A maze with where one never thinks of stepping out. The desert astonished at such a beauty. The moment the desert saw the rose, is the moment the desert fell in love with the rose. The desert decided to nourish the rose, grow it, love it. Desert never wants to leave the rose. So the desert created an oasis. Watered the plant from it. But the sun scorched delicate petals of the rose. So the desert made the date trees, long and crowded forming a canopy over the rose. The rose felt lonely. The desert invited the birds to chatter with the rose. Till then, just a land of sand, the desert is, but now it became a cathedral of love. Grass grew around the oasis. Trees grew thicker covering the place with shadows. A single rose turned the desolate desert lively and beautiful. The desert smiled whole heartedly as it saw the rose happy.

But then a man found out that there’s an oasis in the desert. He took his mates along and invaded the land. He plucked the dates off the trees. He swam in the fresh water and made it dirty. His foot prints contaminated the grass. His breath fouled the air. His malice poisoned the oasis. His greed killed the life out of it. As he walked cutting, plucking, killing the oasis. While leaving he stamped on rose. The rose got crushed under his boot leg. Its petals flattened. Its body torn and broken. It cried and cried and cried and died. Along with it the oasis disappeared. The desert mourned alone. The desert never smiled again. it decided to take revenge. Desert’s heart raged with vengeance. One day the man came back to desert searching for the oasis. He didn't found it. But desert kept creating the illusion of the oasis at the horizon of his sight. He kept walking towards the mirage. The mirage kept walking away from him. He walked, walked, walked. His body ran out of water. His mind ran out of sense. His heart ran out of beats. His life is running out of time. Trying to catch the mirage he walked in the open desert with the scorching sun eating his skin. He collapsed. He raised his head and looked far away at the horizon. He could still see the water, the oasis, the mirage. He crawled towards it. But the mirage of oasis moved away 2 inches for every inch he moves towards. He gave up. His life slipped out. The day turned night. His motionless body turned stiff. Days turned. His body decayed. Finally the desert absorbed his body. His veins turned to manure and grew grass. His flesh fed the date seeds to become trees. Wet with his blood, the water oozed from the ground. The place where the desert buried his body became an oasis. Thirsty birds came to the oasis to take rest. Bees gathered at trees to make honeycombs. One day one bee brought the seeds of a rose from a land faraway and dropped it in the oasis. The seed soon turned to a seedling and then to a plant. The plant produced a bud that blossomed into a red rose. The tired heart of desert retired from the pain as it saw the rose once again. Looking at the young tender rose, the desert smiled again, after a long time.
_a short story by 'che'.