A cool breeze blew over the top of me, ruffling the pink and white tops of my little petals. A shadow fell across me, and I soon saw a gentle face looking down, searching. Their eyes rested on me, and slowly, they kneeled down. They brushed the side of my face, and smiled. The cool breeze blew again. Perhaps that is why my leaves shook, or perhaps it was something else that sparked excitement in the tips of my roots. They dug their fingers in the dirt next to me, slowly pushing underneath my roots. Then they began to lift me up. The dirt fell off my roots as they saw the sun for the first time.

When the person put me back in the ground, it felt unfamiliar, but I also felt a sense of belonging. Here was something new, but what it was, I wasn’t entirely sure yet. I could hear voices around me. But they were hushed, muted, I couldn’t make out any words. I felt a rather prickly leaf brush up against me. Looking over to see who had touched me, I saw... A stem? My eyes followed the stem up... and up... and up... At the top of the great stem was a beautiful yellow narcissus. It looked down from its lofty position. My Apologies, she said, I didn’t expect to see a bud here. Then she tucked her leaves closer to herself, and went back to her business. Then I realized she was not the only one. All around me were beautiful tall flowers, blooming wonderfully. I squinted up at all of them, the sun peeking around them, leaving just a few rays to land on me.

The man came back. And so did the breeze. It seemed to speak as the man looked lovingly on me, almost hidden among the other flowers. Welcome to the High Field, I heard. I put you here because you belong here. Grow. This excited me. Wonders of futures, happy thoughts pervaded my mind. If I was to grow, then that is what I would do.

Each day, I took in sunlight. Each day, my roots grew long. I remember fondly when my roots would intertwine with other flowers. All the flowers were surprised to see me, small, plain, and not even fully blooming. Some recoiled from my touch, but others came closer, sharing my sunlight and the soil beneath our roots. They grew with me.

Once a new man came. He held a watering can in his hand. As his eyes passed over the flowers, I stood up straight. I had grown since I had first come to the High Field, but though I was still small, I was very proud. But as his eyes rested on me, he frowned. A wave of hot, dry air made the environment feel tense and stagnant. You don’t belong, he seemed to say. These other flowers are bigger than you, better than you. Go back to your field, where the little flowers are. But he was just there to do his job, so he looked away, and poured water on me and the rest.

An involuntary tear rolled down my smooth outer petals, melting with the condensation from the watering can. Why had I been put here? The breeze blew by. But now it felt frigid. I know, I thought, grow. I’m here to grow. But all the other flowers already had beautiful full petals, and wonderfully large leaves. How could I pretend I could grow along with them? The question had a vice-like grip on my mind. My leaves wilted and I wanted to disappear into the dirt. All my energy seemed to drain down, down my stem, down to my roots. I soon fell asleep.

The gardener was there. He was looking at me. At least, I think it was him. A chilling mist swirled around me, enhancing my confusion. I looked again, but I couldn’t see the gardener anymore. I felt a sensation as though I was being lifted. Unconsciously, I spread out my leaves, catching the air as it moved around me. It stopped momentarily, and the mist began to clear. As my vision came into focus I saw... something beautiful. But I didn’t understand what it was. The sun was beaming down on the most gorgeous collection of colors, little clusters of reds, pinks, purple, blues, every color you could imagine. And then... in the distance I saw something tall and strong rising out of the ground. Its skin was smooth, and a pale gray. Its arms reached to the sky, delicately brushing the cyan expanse all around. It was full of.. Pink blossoms... A chill ran down my body. A cherry tree! A gentle breeze blew by, gasping with me as I held my breath. It was then that I realized that the colors beneath me were not just anything, they belonged to every single flower in my field. From where I was they looked so small. But there they all stood, soaking in the sun. All of them, growing, whether they realized it or not. This was what I was a part of! And so many amazing things lay beyond that thrilled me, though I had yet to understand the completeness of their beauty. It calmed me. I drifted down, down, down.

The next thing I knew I was back in the field. But the water in the air around me no longer felt heavy, it felt cool and refreshing. The condensation beginning to form on the ground slowly seeped through to my roots, sending a tingly chill up my stem. Keep growing, I seemed to hear. I looked up at the sky: I will!

But even the ground gave way sometimes. One evening I felt vibrations coming from underneath me. I thought this was strange, but I didn’t mention it because the other flowers seemed to be doing fine. Then all the sudden something had a vice like grip on my roots, and was trying to pull me down. I was too frightened to move, and with a crunch I began to slide down in the dirt. I tried pulling my roots out of the grasp of the creature, but its grip was too strong. Finally, I called out help! to the flowers around me. They looked around, trying to find the source of the sound, and finally, a blue and white tulip noticed where I was. I could see the alarm on his face, when he realized I was slowly being sucked into the ground. In a blink, he was bending down to give me support. He twisted his leaves and his stem around mine, and held me up. It’ll be ok, he whispered, we can help you. More flowers came to help, holding me up and encouraging me as the creature kept trying to pull me under. I felt like I was being stretched thin, and my roots were being bruised as the creature bit harder and harder.

The pain was becoming unbearable when suddenly the pressure was released. I was too dazed to understand what happened at first, but as all the flowers who were holding me began to unravel themselves, I saw the gardener’s dog sniffing around, and the gardener himself standing not far away. His gaze was stern as he watched his dog searching for the creature. A little breeze ruffled our leaves, releasing the tension and stiffness we all felt. No gophers will pull my flower down, said the voice carried on the breeze. The big flowers around me circled close, and the blue and white tulip curled a leaf around mine. We know how you feel, said a daisy. So many creatures come to the garden, but we always stick together, said another. And if not one of us, someone will always be there for you, finished the blue and white tulip. The gardener carefully bent down besides me, and brushed the dirt off of me. Your leaves may be wilted now, little bud, but I know you will endure, soon all the world will see you in full bloom. I stood up as straight as I could, and spread my leaves out to soak in the sun. I knew the scars that would be left on me would only remind me of what the other flowers did to help me, and as I stood there I felt like nothing could pull me down. The gardener smiled.

One summer, the air was excruciatingly hot. All the flowers around me were bent and tired, fighting to stay upright. When it was time to be watered, we soaked up as much water as we could, but the air would steal the water before we could get much. One night a sickly sweet humid wind began to blow through the field. It seemed good, but something didn’t feel quite right. It made me drowsy, and bending down, down, down towards the ground, I gave into its lure. I closed my eyes, curled up my leaves and stilled my roots. Growing is too much work, I thought. Perhaps I shall just... sway in this breeze for a while. I yawned and smiled, it did feel nice. I silenced that nagging voice which was trying to remind me what I was supposed to be doing.

But as I fell more and more into the humid hot wind, I began to feel something different. A familiar cool breeze began to blow over me. Compared to this, the hot sweet wind now felt sticky and uncomfortable. The cool breeze was so refreshing, it erased all of my desire to droop so low to the ground. A voice sang on the new wind, don’t lose heart! Don’t give in to false promises! I knew that this was the truth. From the very beginning I knew this. I did not know what I was getting into when I was first put in the field, but somehow I always knew that I was meant to grow, no matter what happened, no matter how slowly, or painfully. The rest of the night I slowly got myself back up, taking in as much water as I could, stretching my leaves out, in anticipation for the sun.

The sun peeked out over the horizon. It was almost day time. A new dawn, a new day for little me. Or... was I so little anymore? I looked to my side. There was the yellow narcissus, but now I was a bit bigger than her. To my other side I saw the blue and white tulip, tall and straight. I could look him eye to eye now. The sunrise was highlighting the big white clouds in the sky, giving them golden edges. I’m no bud anymore, I thought, I’m a full blooming rose! The tingly excitement ran up and down my stem, and all the way out to the tips of every single one of my petals. Perhaps it was the breeze that gave me that chill of delight, or perhaps it was something else.

Something rather soft touched my stem. Ouch! I heard a voice say. I looked around, but not seeing anyone, I looked down towards the dirt. There next to me was a tiny little green sprout. It was holding one of its leaves in the other. I bent down to see if he was ok. I’m so sorry about my thorns, I said. Are you new here?

Yes! Piped the little sprout. But I’m not sure why... can you tell me why I’m here?

I looked up for a second, and noticed the gardener standing nearby. He must have just planted the little fellow. He nodded at me with a smile. I turned back to the sprout. Grow. I said. You’re here to grow.