Sunflower (A Myth)

I wrote this (more or less) 10 years ago for my cousin's school project in highschool. Glad I found this in one of the floppy discs that I kept for ages but it was a full hardwork before I was able to get this file as the disc needs serious recovery efforts..

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Once upon a time, there was a man sitting beneath a Laurel Tree in the middle of the forest.  It is the only Laurel  Tree to be found, standing out among all the other trees, maybe because of the love that nourished its existence from day to day. And it was the love from the man in its leafy arms, who, in everyday of his life from the day his heart died, spent all his time under this tree.

 

Weeping aloud, the forest heard  his cry, “Oh, Daphne… Daphne… my heart you took, my love forever be  yours…”

 

Every  little seed, every  little flower, even the huge  trees and the tall bamboos; and each butterfly that passes knew for some reason how much pain he  bears and how hurt he is for the loss of someone most dear in his heart.

 

And in between breath, “When will I be with you… when can we hold?,” he whispered.

At the heart of the forest wherein beauty is the only thing to be seen, it is a disappointment to see a lonely soul crying his heart out.  Much more to see that it was from a man, staring at nowhere, resting his back at the lower part of the trunk and unconsciously playing with the dried laurel leaves on the ground.

 

He rested his head, closed his eyes and uttered again, “Daphne… Daphne…,”  almost without a sound. And there was silence.  Only the chirping of the birds and the brushing of the leaves in the trees can be heard. 

For long, he stayed just like that until he noticed the movement of a bush nearby as if a  rabbit or a medium-sized animal was behind it. But he haven’t  seen any animal around the forest eversince, only the flying creatures.  He wondered if there could be anyone who knew of the forest. 


“Who is that?” he asked in a loud, clear voice.


The bush stopped moving as if the creature behind became afraid of his voice.


He stood up, took a step forward and speaked again, “Someone is there behind that bush, show yourself!” His words sounded more of an order than a kind favor.


Seemingly afraid, a young lady stood up and showed herself not lifting her face up and both hands are in hold of a basket full of newly picked flowers.


“Who are you?” he asked in a deep, low voice.

 

He took a step again to get near her but she suddenly dropped off  the basket and run as fast as she could.  He did not run after her, instead, he picked the basket with flowers and he showered the flowers at the feet of the Laurel Tree and tied the basket at the back of his horse.

The next day, the young lady was there again picking  flowers~gathering them all in apron above her dress. He arrived and when he saw her a mile away, he got down from his horse and walked towards her without noise, careful  not to get her attention because he’s afraid she might  run  away again. When he got near, he came to her with the empty basket.

“Maybe it would be easier for you if you place all those beautiful flowers in your basket…”, he said softly while handing her the basket. The surprise in her eyes was obviously seen. She wasn’t afraid of this godly being in front of her but the sight of him weaken her knees and makes her heart beats faster than ever. A few of the flowers have fallen from her apron and before she knew it, the man was picking them up and placed them in the basket.

He stood up and handed her the basket.

He smiled. She smiled. 

“What’s your name?” it was the young lady who asked.

He smiled again, glad that she speaked. 

“I am Apollo… and you are?” he asked.

“My name is Fleur,” she responded looking down at her feet, blushing a little.

He lifted up her chin and looked directly at her eyes. 

“You are beautiful, young Fleur… why are you always here?” he asked again. 

“I pick flowers as you can see. I sell them in the flower shops in town. The shop owners told me my flowers are the most beautiful they’ve seen. How about you? I always see you under that tree for quite long now…,” she said pointing out to the Laurel tree.

The expression on his face saddened. 

“It’s called the Laurel tree. I’m always here because my heart is with that tree since Daphne died. She’s my heart… my life…,” he took a deep breath, “…the Laurel tree and Daphne ~ they’re only one.” 

In a way, she understands what he is saying. 

“And that is why you’re wearing Laurel leaves on your hair?” she asked.

He nodded. 

“Fleur, you don’t need to  tell anyone about the significance of the Laurel tree to me… I know you are my friend.” He said hoping that the young lady respect his plea.

She nodded.

Days. Months. Years passed. Apollo and Fleur became good friends and the forest was their paradise. They didn’t  failed to see each other everyday. But one day, Fleur didn’t come and Apollo wondered why. The next day, he saw an old woman picking flowers with a basket. It happened for days and not being able to help it, he approached the old woman. 

“Who are you? Do you know Fleur?” he asked in a soft voice. 

The old woman looked up at him. 

“I am her mother. Fleur is sick and she cannot come to pick flowers, so I did.” She replied.

His worries are seen from his eyes. 

“I want to come with you . I need to see her.” He said.

The old woman shook her head. “No, she doesn’t want you to see her sick and laying helplessly in bed. I’ll tell her you want to see her and I’ll tell you tomorrow what she wanted to do when we see each other here." 

He spotted a rare yellow orchid, picked it and gave it to the old woman. 

“Give this to her and tell her that I missed her and that I really wanted to come…,” he said.

The next day, he arrived there early morning and so did the old woman. She handed him the basket full of flowers and told him to give it to her. 

“Meet her at the Laurel tree, she’s already there…” the old woman said in a very weary voice and tears are on her lids. “Take care of my daughter, Son. She won’t be here for long…” and the old woman turned her back crying.

He’s confused by the old woman’s words. There’s a lot of question in his mind but he opted to run fast towards the Laurel tree where Fleur is waiting.

He found her seated on the ground, resting her back on the lower trunk, her fingers playing with the dried Laurel leaves, just like the first time she had seen him.

She looked up on him and smiled. He cannot afford to smile back at her because of her weak and helpless appearance. 

“Shower me  with flowers…,” she whisphered.

He did as he has been told. She laid her body down and bathe with the mixed fragrance and  beauty  of the flowers surrounding her.

“Why?” he asked. 

“Apollo, I have you here,” she said feeling her heart with her right hand, “but Daphne is there,” pointing to his heart. “I don’t want to come between you and your love for Daphne. I tried to hide what I feel for you. All these years, every moment we are together- the love in my heart grows stronger and stronger for you. So, I backed off, knowing that I cannot help it and this complicated my heart seriously,” she paused, catching her breath. “I will always look up on you and adore you even after I’m gone…” she paused again. 

“Fleur, no… please,” he uttered with tears in his eyes.

Tears flowed from her eyes, too. 

“I love you, Apollo… remember my words… I would always look up on you…” that was the last she could speak and her breath was gone.

He embraced her and cried. The wind blew making every flower on the ground move and swayed the others which are still on their roots. Even the Laurel tree swayed and a few leaves fell down as if it joined Apollo’s tears.

He whispered, “You are dear, my Fleur. I will always look down on you to see that no one will do you harm. We will be together and Daphne will surely understand. You came into my life when I am most depressed and down from the loss of a love. You gave my life a new hope and you showed me its beauty.” Tears continuously flow from his eyes.

He took her hand and kissed the back of it, embraced her more tightly and kissed her forehead. 

“Fleur, oh, Fleur… you didn’t  know I am the Sun… yet I do know~you are My Flower… of all these flowers in the forest and in all the land, you’d stand out to be the brightest, the smartest of them all. You will bring forth hope and beauty and you will be called… Sunflower.”

Photo Credit: flickr.com