The Little Boy and the Talking Rose: The Story

Once upon a time, there was a very big mountain. Mind you, when I say the mountain was big, I mean that it was simply enormous. No one knew quite how big it was. Once every few years, someone would try to climb to the very top. Every time this happened, the people who lived at the bottom of the mountain would wait patiently for them to return. Every time this happened, they would return very tired and say, "I climbed as far as I could. I climbed until I couldn't see the bottom. I even climbed until I couldn't see the clouds, far below me. But I did not reach the top. I couldn't even see it."

Once upon a time, there was a very small boy who lived on the very big mountain. He did not like the mountain very much at all. When his friends asked him why, he would say, "It is too old. It doesn't move, or change. I want to go see other places, exciting places, far away from the mountain." His friends did not understand, because they loved the mountain.

One morning, the small boy decided that he had had enough. He woke up, ate breakfast, and put all of his clothes into a bag. "Goodbye, mother," he said. "I am going to leave the mountain and find exciting places far away." This made his mother very sad. You should never make your mother very sad, but that is what the small boy did.

He took his clothes, and walked to his best friend's house. His best friend, Millie, was reading a book, because she enjoyed hearing about people doing exciting things. That is why Millie and the boy were such good friends. "Goodbye, Millie," said the small boy. "I am going to leave the mountain and find exciting places far away." This made Millie very sad. You should never make your best friend very sad, but that is what the small boy did.

And so the boy began to leave. He had only just entered the forest, however, when he heard a small voice. He looked behind him, expecting that Millie had followed him. But no one was there. He looked around, thinking that someone else must be in the forest. But no one was there. Finally, he looked down and saw a beautiful red rose, smiling up at him. The rose was so beautiful that the boy sat down to get a better look at it.

"Hello," he said. "Who are you?"

"I am a rose!" said the rose. "Who are you?"

The boy thought this was a bit of an odd question. "I am a boy!" he said. But then he thought, and said, "I am an adventurer, going to see exciting places far away!"

The rose seemed to like that idea. "Oh, I would love to see exciting places. But I am a rose, and can only stay here, where I was born. I am afraid I will never see exciting places far away."

This made the boy very sad. The rose was so beautiful, and he liked it very much. Then, he had an idea. "I will carry you with me," he said, "and we will go see exciting places far away together!"

The rose frowned. "I need water, and good healthy dirt. If we are going on adventures, I cannot stay in the dirt. I am afraid I cannot go on adventures with you."

But the little boy could not bear to leave the rose. And so he went back home, and took one of his mother's flowerpots. He went back to the rose, and said, "I will put you in this flowerpot, and take you home. And every day I will water you. I will not go to far away places. I will stay right here with you." This made both the rose and the boy very happy.

That night, the boy's mother asked him, "Weren't you going to go see exciting places far away?"

The boy said, "Yes. But the rose is so beautiful, I could not leave it. I don't expect I shall ever see exciting places far away."

The next day, a traveller came to the town at the bottom of the mountain, a panda bear wearing glasses. The small boy had never seen a panda bear before, so he was very curious. He asked the panda bear, "Where have you come from?"

"Why, just the other side of the mountain!" said the panda bear. "I walked around the mountain, because of course I could not climb to the top. No one has ever climbed to the top of the mountain before. And on the mountain, I have seen such strange and exciting things!"

The boy thought about this for a minute, then asked the panda bear, "Do you think a small boy like me could explore the mountain too?"

"Oh, certainly," said the panda bear. "Everyone should explore the mountain. It is such a wonderful place!"

The boy thought about this. That night, as he climbed into his bed, he told the rose, "I think tomorrow, I will go see exciting places. But don't worry, I will be back every night to water you, and to tell you about my adventures."

The rose didn't understand. She asked, "If you are going to exciting places far away, how will you come back every night?"

The boy smiled. He said, "I am not going to exciting places far away. I am going to exciting places very near."

And then, he fell fast asleep.