"Mommy, mommy, look! There's so many colors!" a little girl of about five skipped through the field of wildflowers, dutiful mother in tow.
"Yes sweetie, aren't they beautiful?"
The little girl, Sarah, nodded enthusiastically and continued her skipping. As the breeze blew, her mother noticed the slight chill in the air and added, "Make sure you enjoy the colors while they last. The season's changing, and they won't last too much longer."
"I wish there was a way they could stay these bright colors forever" Sarah sighed.
"I know, me too sweetie," her mom ruffled her hair. "They are so bright, aren't they? The golden hues of the sunflowers, the dark crimson roses, the bright and cheerful pinks and yellows of tulips and hyacinths, spotted by pops of white daisies..." she trailed off wistfully.
The two of them continued on their walk around the park, stopping once more at the playground so the Sarah could swing on the swings. As she sailed through the sky, she kept glancing over to the field of beautiful flowers.
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The next day, Sarah was outside playing while her mother sat on the front porch, reading. She was so engrossed in her book that she didn't notice Sarah wandering off to the nearby field of wildflowers that they walked through yesterday. It wasn't until she heard little feet running up the driveway that she looked up.
"Mommy, mommy look!" Sarah's arms were filled with flowers, an armload of vibrant hues and freshly-pulled green stems. "I picked up the flowers so that when the seasons change the weather won't get to them! We can have them bright and colorful in our house forever!"
Sarah's mother started to say, "But-but picking them will--" but couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence when she saw the wide toothy grin on her child's face. Oh well, her lesson will be learned in a week or two, as first a leaf falls, then the flowers begin to droop...
Author's Note:
This story was based on The Stupid Monkeys, from Ellen C. Babbitt's retelling of the Jataka Tales. In the story, the monkeys are tasked with watering trees "not too much or too little." To figure out how much to water them, they pull up the trees to look at the size of their roots, killing them in the process. For my retelling, instead of watering trees, Sarah is trying to preserve the bright colors of flowers. But in doing so, she ends up picking them which will kill them, similarly to the monkeys uprooting the trees.
Bibliography:
The Stupid Monkeys
More Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbitt.
"Yes sweetie, aren't they beautiful?"
The little girl, Sarah, nodded enthusiastically and continued her skipping. As the breeze blew, her mother noticed the slight chill in the air and added, "Make sure you enjoy the colors while they last. The season's changing, and they won't last too much longer."
"I wish there was a way they could stay these bright colors forever" Sarah sighed.
"I know, me too sweetie," her mom ruffled her hair. "They are so bright, aren't they? The golden hues of the sunflowers, the dark crimson roses, the bright and cheerful pinks and yellows of tulips and hyacinths, spotted by pops of white daisies..." she trailed off wistfully.
________________________________________________________________
The next day, Sarah was outside playing while her mother sat on the front porch, reading. She was so engrossed in her book that she didn't notice Sarah wandering off to the nearby field of wildflowers that they walked through yesterday. It wasn't until she heard little feet running up the driveway that she looked up.
"Mommy, mommy look!" Sarah's arms were filled with flowers, an armload of vibrant hues and freshly-pulled green stems. "I picked up the flowers so that when the seasons change the weather won't get to them! We can have them bright and colorful in our house forever!"
Sarah's mother started to say, "But-but picking them will--" but couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence when she saw the wide toothy grin on her child's face. Oh well, her lesson will be learned in a week or two, as first a leaf falls, then the flowers begin to droop...
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| The bouquet of flowers Sarah picked (Source) |
Author's Note:
This story was based on The Stupid Monkeys, from Ellen C. Babbitt's retelling of the Jataka Tales. In the story, the monkeys are tasked with watering trees "not too much or too little." To figure out how much to water them, they pull up the trees to look at the size of their roots, killing them in the process. For my retelling, instead of watering trees, Sarah is trying to preserve the bright colors of flowers. But in doing so, she ends up picking them which will kill them, similarly to the monkeys uprooting the trees.
Bibliography:
The Stupid Monkeys
More Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbitt.
Hi Abby!
ReplyDeleteIt took me a little bit to figure out which story you were telling, but once I read your author’s note, I was able to connect the dots. I went back and reread it knowing which story and it makes more sense now. I like that it was immediately obvious. I think your story is short and simple and to the point, but still has a great deal of detail. I think you did a fantastic job with this story.
Hi Abby!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant name choice for the little girl ;) Your first line does a great job in setting the scene. I like that you made the monkeys into a child for your story because the monkeys are portrayed as having child-like ignorance. Hopefully Sarah and the monkeys are both able to learn lessons from the wilting plants!
Hey Abby! While reading your story I was trying to guess where it was derived from, and I should've been able to guess The Stupid Monkeys! I particularly enjoyed that jataka for some reason. I thought that it was nice that you changed the story to show the kid as ignorant, not as stupid. I didn't even think about whether the monkeys were ignorant instead of stupid when reading the jataka, but that was likely confirmation bias from the title "The Stupid Monkeys". But now I'm rethinking my initial assessment. Good story!
ReplyDelete