Forgiveness

Sitting alone, on a porch step, was an Apple Gall being named Stitches. Stitches, like all Apple Gall beings, had been created by an oak gall wasp, using the essence of chilocorus circumdatus, red ladybug or lady beetle from Southern Asia, and Liquid Amber tree.

There Stitches sat with so much sadness, just watching a busy life happening all around Them. Stitches had once been a part of that busy life, running, laughing, and usually having a wonderful time. It seemed so long ago, but was actually, it had been only three weeks prior to that day, to be exact, when the “event” happened, . It had been a day very similar to this one, with the sun shining and not very hot.

Stitches wanted to get out of this mood and being that it was a warm day, thought of going to the local pond for a swim. It might help. Maybe getting out would take away these feelings of anger and sadness. At that moment, Pat, who was a giant dog, a good friend, and also an Apple Gall being, happened to be walking by. Pat was created with essence of Labrador retriever, pheasant, duck, forget me not flower, and liquid amber. Pat could actually fly! An honest, too, goodness bird dog!

“Pat, it's so good to see you. We were just thinking of going for a little swim at the pond, would you like to join Us?”, asked Stitches.

Pat gave out a loud “WOOF”, and said, “Yes, yes, that would be lovely. Jump on my back and We will take us there.”

Because Stitches was so very small, help was needed to climb onto Pat's back, which Pat gladly gave.

“This is going to be so much fun! I'm so glad you were passing by Pat, going swimming with a friend is so much more pleasurable”, said Stitches.

When they arrived at the pond, both noticed several of their other friends who were already swimming. They could see Fleur, Nyani, and Rose. Once seeing Stitches and Pat, all three waved in greetings. Stitches instantly froze, and at that point, decided to go back home.

Stitches hesitancy to stay, was due to Them seeing Nyani, whom was the source of Stitches anger. A few weeks earlier, Nyani had said something about Stitches, which was not very nice, at least Stitches didn't think so. Stitches never said anything to Nyani about being upset, instead only walked away and hadn't spoken with Nyani since.

“You know Pat, I think We've changed Our mind. Would you mind taking Us back home?”, asked Stitches.

“Home, but why? They were so excited to go swimming. Are They not feeling well?”, asked Pat.

“No, no, We are fine. We just changed Our mind.” said Stitches.

“Well if They are sure, We will take Them home”, said Pat, and turned around.

Sharing With a Friend

Once back at the home, Pat asked, “Um, Stitches, We could not help but notice They became a little upset upon seeing Fleur, Nyani and Rose at the pond. Did that have something to do with Them changing Their mind and wanting to go back home?”, asked Pat.

Stitches had not realized the anger was so noticeable. In fact, They hadn't realized just how much anger was there.

Stitches thought, “This is not Us. Why are We so angry? We've been feeling like this for so long; We should not still be feeling this way. Maybe if We share Our thoughts with Pat, it might help”. And so Stitches began to share what had happened, too, bring on these feelings of anger.

“It all began at Fleur's home three weeks prior.”, said Stitches. “Fleur's garden was in full bloom, and They had invited everyone They knew to come and see Their beautiful new flowers. Of course We went, especially since Fleur has a special Iris They planted just for Us. When We arrived, there were so many others already there, including Nyani, whom We thought to be Our friend. We were standing by the iris plant, when Nyani came and stood beside Us. We had to look up, you know how little We are, and how tall Nyani is. Well Nyani just looked down at Us and said, 'to bad you can't grow as tall as that iris'. We became very upset, walked away, and We haven't spoken to Them since.”

“Stitches, They mean to tell Us, that They didn't say a word? Does Nyani even know They are upset about what was said?”, asked Pat.

“We really don't know if Nyani knows, although, We don't see how that's not possible, it was very evident to Us. How can one say something like that to another and imagine the other would not be upset?', Stitches replied to Pat.

Pat, head shaking, said, “You know Stitches, We really can't believe Nyani would ever insult anyone, at least not purposely. Not to mention, We've heard Nyani say so many wonderful things about Them, why would that change? Could it be possible that They misunderstood? Or maybe what Nyani said, was not meant to be an insult, but, rather an observation. We can all say things sometimes that are just observations and it's not meant to be words to hurt another.”

Stitches had to sit and think about what Pat had said. 'Yes, it was true, Nyani had always been so kind, too, everyone, so there would be no reason for Them, too, be mean. Yes, it could be a misunderstanding, after all, everyone can, and does make mistakes after all. Maybe We were feeling a little insecure, wishing We were taller, taller like Nyani.'

“You know Pat, We think you are right, and We have not acted fairly. What We should have done, is spoken with Nyani immediately. We should have asked what was meant by Their comment, instead of getting mad, and walking away. A good friend would have done that. Instead, We got mad, walked away, pouted, and have spent all this time with so much anger. We feel so embarrassed.”, said Stitches.

“Stitches, please do not feel embarrassed. We have all made a mistake at one time or another, that is a part of living. The best lesson is to see what the mistake was, or is, and try to correct it. How about we head back to the pond and have a visit with Nyani?”, asked Pat.

Stitches nodded in agreement, and again, with Pat's help, jumped back up onto Their back.

Learning to Trust

As soon as Pat and Stitches arrived back at the pond, Nyani, Fleur and Rose ran up to greet them.

Rose was the first to speak, “I'm so glad you came back and hope you are feeling well. We were worried because you left so quickly. We were all looking forward to swimming with Them both, and then saw Them both leave.”

“Yes, yes, We wanted to show Them how long We can hold Our breath under water now.”, said Fleur.

“Yes, We are so happy They are back. We would like to talk to Stitches if They have a moment?”, asked Nyani.

“Yes, We would like that also.”, replied Stitches nodding to Nyani.

“Good, while They two talk, how about the rest of us wait for them in the water, We can't wait to get wet.', said Pat.

It was a little awkward at first, talks like these usually are, but once the feeling of awkwardness is set aside, the talking can begin.

“Stitches, We could not help but notice that They might be upset with Us and We are not quite sure why. If We have said or done anything to offend, or hurt Them, We are so sorry, it was not Our intention.”, said Nyani.

Stitches, having had Nyani as a friend for so long, should have known there would be no way Nyani would have intentionally hurt anyone's feelings.

“Nyani, it is We who must apologize to Them. They said something to Us that hurt Our feelings and We did not trust our friendship enough to talk to Them about it. That was a big mistake on Our part, and We would like to ask for Their forgiveness.”, replied Stitches.

“Oh, my dear friend, please tell me what it was that We said. We never want to hurt Their feelings ever again.”, said Nyani.

“It was at Fleur's garden party, They said, 'too bad They can't grow as tall as that iris', and We felt like They were making fun of how small We are. We realize now that We were wrong, They would never do that. At that moment, We were feeling a little sad because We are so small and not tall like Them and so many others. We are afraid We took it out on Them.”, said Stitches.

Nyani, bent over and gently lifted Stitches, and ever so gently, kissed Their cheek. “My dear, dear friend, please also forgive Us for not following Them immediately afterwards. They can see, We did see They were upset. We were afraid that We had said something and did not trust Our self to say the right thing to fix it. We sometimes don't know how to say what We are feeling, but We are trying to do better. You see, We also have trouble in trusting Our self about talking with Our friends about certain feelings. What We learned today is, it doesn't matter who we are, how tall or small, sometimes it can be difficult for some to trust and share certain emotions.”

Stitches snuggled into Nyani's hand, it was nice to have such a good friend, especially one who understood and shared the same feelings as well as emotions.

“Shall we promise to always trust that we can speak to each other about our feelings. To trust that when there are doubts, or just things, we are not sure about, and can still can trust to talk with each other about them.”, said Nyani.

“Yes, We promise. That would be lovely. It is so hard being angry and sad all the time. We missed Them, and We missed Our self.”, replied Stitches. And with that both joined the others in the pond.