Friendship

Rose

Rose was, or should I say is, a very special Apple Gall being. She was created with the essence from a ladybug, a monarch butterfly, a Queens oak gall wasp's essence, pollen from roses, oak, liquid amber and rambutan. When Rose was first born, she was a tall Apple Gall being, having rose bud hair, oak limbs, rambutan feet and liquid amber hands.

Rose Starts to Draw

Each and every day Rose woke up very excited. She loved life from the first moment she ever opened her eyes. Yet this day was different, it held just a little bit more excitement than any other.

Several months before, Rose came upon her friend Potpourri who had been painting a beautiful landscape on canvas. Painting on a canvas was something she had never seen before. Rose having been the first Apple Gall being ever created, loved creating many different things herself, and seeing Potpourri painting was very appealing to her. She knew in her heart that she also wanted to create something in this way.

Once Rose had decided she also wanted to paint, she wrote down what might possibly be needed to accomplish this goal. It was a plan, making a plan was usually the best start of any idea. Step one of her plan would be to educate herself by making inquiries about painting, what exactly was involved? From her questions, she found there were so many forms of painting. While looking into painting, she came across drawing, which she really liked also. What surprised her the most were the many different mediums available. At first it all seemed a little overwhelming, but she was not one to ever give up on anything.

The second step, was to pick a medium she liked, and began experimenting with it. The one which most appealed to her was charcoal pencil, drawing with this medium turned out to be her favorite. Using what she learned, she began sketching, and could be found most often sketching pictures of her friends, and as much of the beauty around her as she could find, and in her eyes, everything was beautiful.

In the beginning, looking at each of her drawings, it seemed to her, they were not very good. This did not stop her from continuing, it only made her even more determined to succeed, and so kept on drawing. She really believed in that old saying, 'Practice Makes Perfect', and soon it seemed to her, that the more she drew, the better her drawings began to look, and the easier it became.

After Rose had drawn quite a few pictures, she had a thought, maybe she could get an honest, experienced opinion of her drawings. Potpourri's beautiful paintings came to mind, and Potpourri was one whose art was well known throughout the entire community. Rose knew in her heart, this is who would be the best being to ask for a review of her drawings. She wanted to know if her work was as good as she thought is was, if not, maybe Potpourri might have suggestions on how Rose could improve. And so she gathered what she thought were some of her best works and went to visit Potpourri.

Potpourri was happy to see Rose and her drawings. After looking over a few of Rose's pieces, was Rose imagining an excitement in Their eyes? At least that's what she thought she saw, or was it wishful thinking on Rose's part? She had the impression that They liked what They were looking at. After perusing through a few of the drawings, Potpourri asked if Rose wouldn't mind leaving them. Potpourri said there was more time needed to really look at them before giving a review. Rose could barely contain her excitement and agreed to leave them, for Their opinion was very very important to her, and she couldn't wait to hear what it was going to be.

Getting Ready and The Flight

Two weeks after leaving her drawings with Potpourri, Rose ran into Them. She had not heard anything about the drawings since she had left them, and so she decided to ask. Their reply was something to the affect of, “Oh, yes. We've been so busy, and haven't had a chance to look them over. We will let you know in a week what We think about them”.

Well, today was a week since that day, and Rose's plan was to meet with Potpourri, as well as some of their other friends. Their friends, like Rose and Potpourri, were also Apple Gall beings. It was to be a day of swimming at Blue Lake, which was located not very far away, on the outskirts of the Old Forrest where they all lived. The lake was easy to get to, and very popular with the entire Apple Gall community.

Inside of an old hallowed oak tree, which was Rose's home, Rose was getting ready for the big day. There was a tap on her door and when she opened it, she found Petals standing there. Petals was the second Apple Gall being ever created, and so had been Rose's very first friend.

“Oh Petals, I'm so excited, I can barely breath! Today I get to hear what Potpourri thought of my drawings.”, were Rose's first words to Petals.

This was news to Petals, They thought They knew all that was going on in the community, and especially with Rose. “Really? We didn't know you had asked Potpourri to look at your drawings. When did you ask?”, questioned Petals.

“It's been awhile back, so last week I saw Potpourri, and I asked about them. I was told I would find out in a week, and well, today is a week.”, replied Rose.

“Hum, We saw Potpourri yesterday and nothing was mentioned about your drawings, only about meeting with everyone at Blue lake. Are you sure it's today”, asked Petals.

“Yes, I'm sure. It has to be, Potpourri wouldn't make me wait any longer, right?”, asked Rose.

Petals thought for a moment, wondering if They should say anything more. Rose really was excited and They didn't want to see her upset. They knew she would sometimes forgot to be specific when asking questions about different things, or when she wanted something done a certain way. Maybe this time was different and decided not saying anything more.

“OK then, let's head to the lake, We think everyone is probably already there.”, said Petals. One of the best parts of going with Petals was that They could fly, and it was always a treat flying with Them, because They always made every flight an adventure. When going somewhere with Petals, it would never be just a direct flight to the destination. No, They loved to make detours by flying in and out of trees, or sometimes fly way up high and then straight down, getting real close to the ground and then zipping up again. It was always an adventure Rose looked forward too.

On this trip to the lake, Petals decided to buzz their friends the wild horses who roamed the nearby mountains. Neither one of them, as well as the horses, could not stop laughing, as the pair zoomed by. Zeus, the lead stallion, whom they knew well, called out to Petals, asking Them, too, set Rose on his back, which They did. Zeus ran all throughout the hills while Rose held onto his mane, yahoooing the whole time. When he finally come to a stop, Rose hugged Zeus' neck and thanked him for such a wonderful gift. Petals swooped down, grabbed Rose's hand again, and off to the lake they went.

At At The Lake, Rose Learns an Important Lesson

After another of their fun flights, Petals and Rose finally arrived at the lake. It seemed Petals might have been right, for the entire Apple Gall community was there. Being such a hot day, this was not unusual, as it was the first place everyone went to cool down.

One and all watched as Petals, holding Rose's hand, flew in. There was lots of waving and calling out of greetings. Petals spotted Jewel and Potpourri at their favorite spot, and flew directly towards them.

“Wow, that was a great entrance!”, exclaimed Potpourri while walking over to greet the pair.

“Thanks, I hope you didn't have to wait very long for us?”, asked Petals.

“No, no, we just got here about 15 minutes ago and were just setting out the blankets, towels and food items.”, answered Jewels while walking beside Potpourri.

There were salutations and hugs all around. Afterwards they all walked back to their spot, with only one thing on Rose's mind. All she wanted to do was ask Potpourri, “So what did you think?”. Fortunately, she decided to let Potpourri bring it up. She did not want Them to think she was being to pushy.

While settling in, and enjoying the sun, various friends would stop by and say hello. It was always a great time at the beach visiting with friends, especially those they hadn't seen in awhile. It gave all an opportunity to catch up on the latest news and events. It didn't take long before the weather became much warmer, so they all decided to cool down by going swimming. Well all except Jewel, she was not one who was much for swimming.

“I'll sit here and snack on some of these goodies if you all don't mind?”, said Jewel in her lovely Southern drawl.

Everyone nodded and ran to the water. As they were leaving, Rose turned to Petals and said, “Petals, you know Potpourri has not said one word about my drawings, do you think They just didn't like them and doesn't know how to tell me?”.

Petals could see that Rose was letting her imagination run away, and sometimes, that wasn't such a good thing. They remembered Rose had, more often than not, a way of thinking of the worse scenario rather the best. They recognized this, for They found Themselves sometimes doing this same thing.

“We don't think that at all Rose. You have to remember, Potpourri is a really really busy being, maybe there hasn't been time to look at your drawings.”, said Petals.

“Oh, I guess you're right. Maybe I should not have asked Them, maybe I should have asked someone else? I really don't want to be a bother. But I thought we are good friends, and I would never turn away any of my friends if they asked a favor like this of me. Maybe I'm not as good of a friend to Potpourri as I thought I was.”, said Rose.

Petals could hear all kinds of doubts, and sad thoughts had began running through Rose's mind. They had seen her do this before, and each time it happened, afterwards, They knew she always felt terrible for thinking those thought. No one liked thinking negative thoughts about their friends, especially Rose.

Rose looked at Petals. They were right. She could see she was letting all kinds of unfounded thoughts and emotions run through her mind. Even a few that weren't very nice. She was doubting her friends, and herself. Thinking like this always made her feel like a bad being, which she really didn't feel she was. She was so happy to have Petals there to talk to, They seemed to always help her sort things like this out.

“Rose you know Potpourri looks at you as a very dear friend, as we all do, right? Tell me, did you actually hear Potpourri say that today was the day you'd hear the review or did They say something in general, like 'maybe in a week the review would be ready'.”, asked Petals.

“Well, now you put it that way, yes, I think there might have been a maybe in there. I just assumed it was a 'for sure' because it's been so long. I don't understand Petals, why has it taken so long?”, asked Rose.

“Rose, did you ask for a specific time when you wanted the review by? Did you tell Potpourri how important this is to you?” asked Petals.

“Well, no, not really. I just said, 'when you have time can you look at these', and handed them over to Them. I didn't say anything about how important it is to me, I just assumed Potpourri would know.”, said Rose.

“Rose, why would Potpourri know how important it is to you unless you say something. Potpourri cannot read your mind, no one can. You might have said something like, 'I really would like to have these back in a couple of weeks, if that's alright?' What do you think?”, asked Petals.

Rose again thought for a moment and realized that she had not been very clear on what she would have liked from Potpourri, and she was doing a lot of assuming. She thought to herself, 'Boy do I need to work on my communication skills”. 'Speak clearly of what I would like. Don't assume' that's what how it will be done, or how I think things should be.

“Oh Petals, you are absolutely right, as always. I really haven't been fare, have I? I can't expect others to read my mind, and then start assuming all kinds of things, when they aren't responding like I think they should. It's not realistic, or fare. In the future, I really need to be more clear, say what I'm thinking, or what I would like. Dear Petals, I feel a little ashamed of myself, Potpourri is my friend and I was thinking not very good thoughts about Them. I didn't trust our friendship. I was also taking a lot for granted, wasn't I? I'm going to invite Potpourri over after the swim today and apologize, as well as, say what I should have said in the first place.”, said Rose.

“That sounds like an excellent idea, and Rose, We hope you know that you are not the only one who this has happened to. We, as well as many others, have done the same thing many times. We forget to ask or say something of what We would like or need of others. When We don't, sometimes what happens is We let our mind start thinking all kinds of things that are just not true. This is especially true when things don't turn out how We think they should. It's very easy to do, right? When this happens, We try to remember, 'this is our friend', and if We are ever in doubt about something, then all We have to do is talk to them, because that's what friendship is all about. We would always want our friends to think the same of Us”, said Petals.

“Petals, you are such a wise person, and I am so glad you are my friend.”, said Rose.

They both hugged and spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying a great day surrounded by their many friends.