Story by Amy Liao, Wendy and Belinda Chen
Illustration by Michelle
Once upon a time, there was a lovely girl, Charlotte. Although she was gentle, she didn’t get such fortune. She was sent to an orphanage near by her home when she was a little because of the death of her parents. She was nice, nevertheless, it didn’t impress the orphanage director, Emma. She made her do hard labor everyday, and the only thing she got from her was either hogwash or scorched meals.
Every night, when Charlotte thought of the sorts of things she had to do in the daytime, she’d burst into tears. She hided away in dreams from the unhappiness she had. One night, she dreamed she was in a beautiful garden. There, were all kinds of iridescent flowers, and graceful butterflies dancing lightly.
The scenery carried her away. ‘Maybe Emma won’t treat me so badly if I take these flowers back to the orphanage,’ she thought. Thus, she started to pluck them. First, she plucked a rose. Suddenly, a wail, she heard, “ah…!”
Charlotte raised her head and looked around, but she was alone. She thought she was mistaken, so she continued the pluck.
“Ssss…,” she heard another wail when she plucked the second. And this time, she was very sure it wasn’t her imagination. She stood up and cried to the surroundings, “who’s it?” She was afraid. Just then, seven beautiful flower elves appeared at once!
“Hey, she found us,” the youngest elf spoke up, Hyacinth.
“Come on, don’t scare the little girl, you naughty child,” Rose told her.
“How did you come here, my little girl? The garden was actually perilous although it looked truly pretty. Take a look at those flowers you’d picked,” the elegant Daffodil told Charlotte. Suddenly, the flowers in her hands withered in a flash!
“Why did you want the flowers here?” Jasmine asked. To answer her, Charlotte told the elves her experiences in the orphanage and the exact reason she wanted the flowers. The elves started thinking.
In a while, Violet spoke up, “since the flowers here may not be taken away, we’ll give you a pack of flowers seeds. I hope you can take good care of them. We’ll also give you the ability of coming to the magical garden as a gift, so you may come here whenever you wish. Oh, and if you like, you may ask for more seeds from us when you have planted all.”
Charlotte woke up. She opened her eyes and saw a pack of flower seeds at the bedside. She planted them at the orphanage garden. A short span of time passed, and the flowers blossomed. Each of them was so pretty, bright and alive. She took them to the town and sold, they reaped some money, and she kept them into a small glass bottle. The flowers got prettier and prettier each day, and her money increased, day by day.
One afternoon, Emma found her deposited bottle. She ordered her to go and have a talk with her. She asked about the source of the money. With all honesty, the obedient girl told her everything. The greedy Emma thought, ‘since the flowers made money that easily, what if I take away all the flowers from the magical garden and sell them, then I would be the rich!!’ She determined to pluck flowers from the dream garden, but he didn’t know the path into the garden, so she threatened Charlotte bring all the flowers back.
Charlotte felt extremely harassed, because the flowers in the garden weren’t allowed to be picked. And still, if she didn’t, Emma will definitely hit her. She decided to go back to Lambent Wonderland to discuss it with the elves. That night, she dreamed of the garden again. She told the elves what Emma wanted her to do. Sunflower thought for a while then said, “give her the flowers seeds as a gift, and when they blossom, she’ll certainly understand.” Understand what? Charlotte didn’t know what she meant, but anyway, she nodded. When she awoke, there was a pack of seeds at the bedside as expected. Charlotte gave them to Emma, and she accepted the packet happily. Childlike, she assumed that these magical flowers could be planted easily, without knowing how much effort Charlotte had paid to look after them. She planted the seeds as she pleased and didn’t pay any care for them.
A short time passed…
One day, Emma went to her garden happily, and didn’t find the flowers blossom, but withered. The ground cracked, the water had sucked by the plants, and every plant there died. The garden became deserted. She opened her eyes widely, simply not daring to believe it! She clenched her hands with a wrathful spark in her eyes, and rushed to Charlotte! Charlotte was in her garden, trimming her flowers under the fierce sunshine. Although it was hard work, nothing but the flowers gave her joy in life. ‘The children here love to come to my garden and play. And it would be very dangerous if I don’t trim them well,’ she smiled and thought. Emma looked at the surroundings; the grass was tender and green, flowers blossomed beautifully, the children laughing with joy and birds singing in the garden…
She closed her eyes and listened, ‘how long has the orphanage been without these sounds?’ She thought. She rolled up her pants, went beside Charlotte and took the secateur in her hands, and started helping her quietly……
That night, Charlotte went to Lambent Wonderland. She told the elves what happened. The elves smiled to her…Hyacinth said, “so, you’ve forgiven that evil that easily? I think we shall really give her more lessons.” “Shh! Quiet, Hyacinth!” Phalaenopsis glared at her sister, Hyacinth. The garden was full of cheerful laughter….
A few days later, Charlotte got what she had always wished for… parents. She was adopted by a kind couple. Before she left the orphanage, Emma held her hands and said, “my girl, thank you so much! You reminded me the determination and heart I once had before I came here, which was, to take good of and protect the poor little orphans. I finally realize it now. And don’t you worry about the garden, I’ll take good care of it.”
Just like this, the little girl stepped out on her new life. She loved her step-parents. She lived with happiness. And tonight, she is going to tell her friends, the flower elves, about her new father and mother…
THE END