There once was a red flower named Red. According to all of the other flowers, he wasn’t as pretty or strong as the rest. He had been neglected and gone without water for three days, and was leaning over in sadness, his red petals no longer a bright red. What had he done to upset the other flowers? Had he been mean to them? Had he said something wrong? Why was his caretaker not giving him water? Was he being punished? He didn’t know, and that upset him greatly.

One day, the flower had fallen over, and sadly, all of the other flowers had seen him fall. All of them laughed and called him weak, sensitive. Even his best friend Daisy laughed at him. He tried to weep, but he had gone so long without water that tears just wouldn’t fall. So, he only laid there, wondering why all of the other flowers were picking on him and why he didn’t have any water. It was so mean of the flowers to laugh and his caretaker to forget about him!

One sunny and hot day, the red flower looked to the sky and saw hope! He saw rain clouds in the sky, heading his way with the promise of life just for him! So, he prayed. He bowed his weak petals and prayed for patience, kindness, and the ability to be nice to all of the other flowers. He wouldn’t be mean back to the others. It wouldn’t be nice.

Finally, the clouds hid the sun from his view and water began to fall from the sky, giving him life and joy. It was raining! Pretty soon, his wondrous red color returned and his petals no longer drooped. He pulled himself up off of the ground to stand tall and proud, glad to now have his color back. His red petals opened up to form a beautiful bloom, and he couldn’t help but take a look around.

He was taller than the others! He had risen above his pain and now he is just as beautiful as before! He was taller! He was stronger!

All of the other flowers admired him, cheering for his courage. They admitted that they wished they were as beautiful as he was and one by one said they were sorry for being mean. Then, the flowers each decided to think of a new name for him.

After many minutes of thinking and admiring Red, they decided.

They named him Rose, to honor the way he rose above the challenge of being left alone. Every day after that, they called him Rose to show that they each cared for him very much. Because they all became friends and Rose became even more happy than before, his red petals continued to get brighter, and with each passing day, he became even more beautiful.