Once upon a time, there was a little flower. It grew by the side of the path and watched the world go by. Spring passed, followed by winter and the flower endured for many years. There was a secret to its life. The flower refused to bloom, and so when spring came it remained a bud and held on to its fragile life. It didn't see any reason to flower, because it would die when the frosts of winter came for it. And so the little flower stayed long after the others gave in to the cold. Alone by the path, it seemed the flower would stay that way forever. But one day someone walked down the path.

The person was the most beautiful the little flower had ever seen. And as they walked past the flower forgot all about everything. The only thing that existed was the person walking past. The light that shone through them was brighter even than the sun above. And the little flower felt something new, some feeling it had never known before. This person was everything. The only thing the plant needed was the person walking past. And as the warmth of the person came close, the flower did what it had never done before.

It flowered.

Delicate blue petals fanned outwards and the little flower bloomed before the sun of a person. It no longer cared about anything but that one person, and the small blue petals shone with an inner light. The person walking past had been busy looking upwards, but then they glanced down and saw the little flower. They just watched it for a few seconds as the flower glowed. Then they extended their hand and strong fingers encircled it, then the flower was pulled upwards and felt its stem, and its lifeline, snap.

But the flower didn't care now, and as the person carried it away the flower saw the world for the first time. From so high up, it could look down on everything it had known before and see what it had never known. It swayed in the grip of the person and the flower was happy for the first time in all its years of life. Even though it would wither away in a few days, it didn't mind.

It now knew that a few days of happiness were worth more than long years spent alone.