Be careful what you pick
I’ve been living in the same house for the past 26 years. Over the years, we have done a bit of landscaping on our property to make it look nice. We’ve planted a variety of bushes, flowers, trees, and plants to enhance our property’s value. We would do a lot more, except that the deer population in our neighborhood and other animals seem to feel that our property is an all-you-can-eat salad bar. Those flowers and plants that do survive do well.
About a month ago, I was sitting in my backyard admiring the phlox plant that was growing near our deck. Its fuschia-colored flowers looked so pretty that I decided to pick a few to put in a vase on our dining room table. As soon as I picked the first flower, I heard an ear-piercing scream. It was coming from the ground.
I don’t know about you, but when I hear an ear-piercing scream coming from just below where I am standing, I don’t just calmly say, “Oh, I wonder, what could that have been?”
I scream, take a number of steps backward, and probably utter something like, “HOLY SH*T! What the hell was that?” Which is precisely what I did. Luckily no one was around to hear or see me.
Since quiet had resumed, I inched my way back to where the Phlox plants were and looked down at the ground. I wasn’t sure what I’d see, but never in my wildest imagination did I expect to see what I saw.
She was the size of a mayfly. And if I hadn’t seen her beautiful girlish face, I would have suspected that she was a mayfly. After all, she did sport a pair of wings.
“And what gives you the right to go pulling up parts of my house?” she angrily shouted.
I was at a loss for words for a moment but eventually replied, “I didn’t know anyone was living there.”
“Well, don’t you have eyes in your head and ears to hear with? I’ve been living here for over 30 years. It’s bad enough that those bloody deer keep eating all my flowers, but you have to go and pick them. Can’t a fairy live in peace with you humans without you destroying the beauty of this world?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to. Is there anything that I can do to repair the damage?” I asked
“What you can do, is stop picking my house apart,” she stated rather gruffly.
I was quick to answer, “I can do that. I can also plant new flowers for you to expand and protect your home.”
All of a sudden, I noticed a different expression on her face. I’m not quite sure whether it was a smile of pleasure or a smirk of something devious that had occurred to her upon hearing my offer.
The fairy said, “If you could do that, I would be forever grateful to you. I would even give you a wish. Now mind you, it would have to be a wish that relates to your plantings.”
That seemed like a fair trade. I thought about all of the things that I would have planted had I not been bothered with deer, moles, woodchucks, and the like that loved to eat whatever I planted.
So I made my wish. “I wish that you keep all of the animals that come here and eat up all the things I plant go somewhere else to get their meals and leave my plantings be.”
“Consider your wish granted,” she remarked in rather a knowing way. “You will never be bothered by them again. I’ll make sure of it.”
And then she disappeared.
Well, I did what I said I’d do. I planted more flowers, vegetables, and fruits throughout the grounds surrounding my house, feeling good that all would be well with the peace surrounding my house.
And, well, she did exactly what she said she’d do. You know how I backed up and panicked when I heard the fairy scream? It appears that animals of all kinds – deer, moles, woodchucks, and the like, react the same way, too, no matter what time of day or night the fairy screams. And trust me, she screams a lot.
Be careful what you wish for. You may end up getting exactly what you deserved.
