The Little Elf Plant

Angelea’s garden is not different from most gardens we’ve seen. It is a place where grass and all kinds of plants grow- from lilies to basils up to the smallest cactus. But there was one thing that made this garden special, it’s that all the plants planted in its grounds comes to life.
“Sigh. The sun feels so good on my leaves,” the Rose says to the Lily.
“And my petals are also in full colour,” the Lily answers, showing off her glowing, purple petals.
“I love this place,” they both say. They both look at each other giggling and laughing, they did say the same thing at the same time unexpectedly.
“It really is the place to be, huh?” a voice joins the two flowers. It surprises them. “Hello there, I’m new here. My name’s Elf. What’s yours?” He is small and has no flowers.
“What are you supposed to be?” asks the Rose.
“Well, I’m an elf plant.”
“An elf plant? So you don’t grow?” the Lily joins the interrogation as well. The Rose laughs with what the Lily said.
“Oh no, I grow too, like you. But I only grow a few centimeters up.” The elf plant answers, head up high.
The Rose and the Lily looks at each other, curiosity blooms in their faces.
“So, what special things do you have?” the Lily asks.
“What do you mean by ‘special things’?”
“Well, I have these beautiful red petals,” the Rose says, boasting her blossom. “And I smell good too. People love me.”
“I can live both on ground and water, and my petals are glowing with beauty as well,” the Lily boasts as well. “What do you have?”
“Well, umm…I don’t think I have any petals like you, nor do I smell good either,” the Elf plant says bashfully. “I don’t really know if I do have something special, but I’m still a plant. Can we be friends?” he pleads.
“Eek! No way. You’re a useless plant. You’re not good enough to be our friend,” says the two flowers.
The Elf plant leaves with a crying heart. He felt like an outcast. He walks through the garden. It is full of stunning plants. Big, small, and colourful, the plants around him are beautiful. “Why am I here? Those flowers were right. I don’t have anything to deserve to be here,” he thought to himself,
He walked through a stone path. He went and stood by the bench near the birdbath. He hears voices from behind him. There was a Daffodil speaking with a bunch of Yellow Bells by the birdbath. 
“Have you heard about the Woodworm?” says the Daffodil. “They say if you meet and ask him for something you wanted, it would be granted.”
“Really?” says one Yellow Bell.
“Really?” follows another.
“Really?” and another one joins in.
“Yes, they say he’s up, behind that fence,” the Daffodil points up to a white-painted fence. It seems to be leading outside the garden. “But nobody have ever tried to go beyond that fence.”
“Why?” says the Yellow Bells, one after the other.
“Because it’s dangerous. No plant could go out of that fence and back to the garden,” the Daffodil whispers.
“Woodworm, huh?” the Elf plant says to himself.

He thought of it a few times. He was curious about what the Daffodil said. Was it true? Is there really a Woodworm behind that fence? But then he thought to himself, “There’s no wrong in trying, right?”
And so, the Elf plant set his way to meet the Woodworm tree.
When he reaches the white fence, he can’t seem to find an opening. “How can I get through?” he says.
“Can I give you a hand?” a voice falters.
It is a big plant. He isn’t a tree but he’s not very small either. He has small red flowers on his branches. He’s a shrub, a bush of Suntan flowers.
“You can make a hole through this fence?” the Elf plant asks.
The Shrub chuckles. “No. But I can help you get over it,” he grins.
The Suntan shrub lowers one of his branches to the Elf plant and lifts the elf plant up. He raises his branch just enough to go over the fence.
“Wow, I could see the whole garden from here!” the Elf plant says with full of excitement.
“Sorry, this is as far as I can take you. I’m not that tall after all,” the shrub apologizes. “Perhaps my brother can help you. His on the other side of this fence. He can catch you if I throw you over this fence,” he suggests.
“Oh, no. Thank you so much, Mr. Suntan Shrub,” he chuckles. He stares at the garden, it is a new point of view. His gaze follows through the window. He finds a girl inside the house. “Who’s that?” he asks.
“You don’t know her?” the shrub is surprised. “She’s the one who took us in. She’s probably the one who took you to this place too. She takes care of all the plants in this garden. She’s a really nice girl. But she’s getting quite ill,” the Shrub coughs. “I heard a man once said that she may no longer be able to come to the garden or she might die. I think it’s because she puts so much effort in taking care of us that she sometimes forgets about herself.”
“That’s sad,” the Elf plant sympathizes.
“Yeah. Oh by the way little one, where are you going? Are you leaving the garden?” the Shrub suddenly realizes.
“I’m going to Mr. Woodworm,” the Elf plant says with a smile planted on his face.
“Oh. Well good luck with that,” he bids him good fortune. “Off you go now,” he smiles at the Elf plant. He throws him over the fence.
The Elf plant lands on a soft branch. He’s quite the same height as the Suntan shrub, actually he looked just like Mr. Suntan, only he had yellow blossoms on his braches instead of reds.
“You must be Mr. Suntan Shrub’s brother,” the elf plant says. “Hello, there. I’m Elf, what’s your name?”
“Hello there little one. My name’s Yellow Suntan,” answers the Yellow Suntan shrub.
The Elf Plant titters. “Thank you so much Mr. Yellow Suntan,” his gratitude’s splashes.
“No worries, little one. Good luck on your trip,” the Suntan’s regards.

The Elf Plant left the Suntan brothers with a grateful heart. He then continued on his journey. He walked and walked and walked. “Oh, no! The storm’s coming!”
The wind blows hard. And the rain pours strong. “Come on shelter, little one!” a fellow plant screams, offering the little plant help. She’s very tall and very slim and so are the others beside her. She’s doesn’t seem to be quite that strong but she and her sisters work together and becomes a wall. They’re bamboos. They sway with the gust of the wind, but manages to stay firm to the ground. “Are you okay, kid?” the family worries.
“I’m fine. What about you? The storm is pretty strong,” the Elf Plant worries for them as well.
“Don’t worry, kid. We’re a team. We’re stronger if we’re together,” one of the bamboos assures him.
The storm passes and the wind slows down. The bamboos make way for the little Elf Plant. “Thank you very much, Bamboo sisters,” he says.
“Don’t mention it, kid,” one of them says.
“You be careful. Okay, kid?” another says.
“You too,” the Elf Plant says. He leaves the Bamboos with a thankful smile and then continues on his journey.
It wasn’t long until he finally found what he was looking for. There was a very tall and very big tree on a small hill. His braches reached long lengths and his leaves were bright greens. It’s the Woodworm tree he’s been looking for. “What can I do for you, young one?” the big tree asks.
“Mr. Woodworm, I was just wondering if you could make me special, at least good enough to please someone and make friends,” he pleads.
“But don’t you have friends already?”
The Elf Plant was confused. What was the Woodworm talking about? He had no friends. But then he remembered, the Suntan brothers and the Bamboos, they’ve helped him and even wished him a safe trip. They care for him. They’re his friends.
“I know they’re worried for you. And so is the young girl at the window,” the Woodworm’s words strikes through the Elf Plant.
“Oh, that’s right. Will you please help her. She’s very ill,” the little plant pleads.
“I don’t think I can do anything about that, but I know you can.”
“Me? But I don’t even have flowers nor do I smell good. I don’t have anything special,” the Elf plant says.
“Tell me little one, does flowers and fragrance make you a better plant?”  the Woodworm asks.
The Elf plant thought hard and he realizes that flowers and good smell won’t make anything better out of him. He nods from side to side and the Woodworm smiles. “Everything in this world has its purpose. Everything was made special. Others may have beautiful faces but that’s just the physical stuff. You don’t have to be a stunning plant to make friends, nor to be of some worth because you are worth to be called a special plant.”
The Woodworms words of wisdom were true, and the elf plant realizes that. And so the Elf plant went back to the garden meeting his friends again on the way. If you ask about Angelea, well she’s gotten better, and it was because of the little Elf Plant. His leaves turns out to be the cure for Angelea’s sickness. The garden became even more magical because of the little, special plant named “Elf” and they all lived happily ever after.

The End.