The Pink Cactus

Once upon a time, last year in fact, an old woman lived alone in her house. Her children were grown up and successful and all lived far away. She loved her house and her garden, which brimmed with all shades of green. Her favourite plant was an exotic cactus that bore one pink flower for a single day every ten years. She was excited because for the last nine years she had faithfully watered and fed this plant with the fat green leaves that stuck out in all directions. She could already see the knob where the flower would grow.

She received an invitation, with a plane ticket attached, to visit one of her beloved children, close to the date of the ten year flowering. Her quiet world was invaded by a difficult choice she had to make. She missed her child and the grandchildren. But then the flower would go unseen. What to do?

She sat with her predicament. What to do? She waited. She longed to see how the grandchildren had grown. She could hear their squeals of delight when she kissed the soles of their feet after their bath. She ached to be near them. What to do, because the flower always reminded her of the evanescence of life. The flower shares its lifespan with her for one day only. She waited for an answer from within.

She stayed. She watched the birth of the exquisite pink of the translucent petals early in the morning. She shared the magnificence of this life form until the flower wilted and fell on her mother, earth, at dusk. She sighed with delight at being able, once again, to witness this wonder of nature for which she waited ten years. Her heart glowed as the cactus revealed, and shared, her pinnacle of pride with the old woman.

She did visit the beloved child and her progeny soon afterward. They shared time and much fun and laughter. She divulged her treasured recipes as they prepared food together. At night she told the bright young eyes that watched her every move, all her old stories of ancient times. She shared her wisdom, accumulated over all the years of her life.

The pink cactus never bloomed for her again.