The Dandelion GIrl

She stood in front of the magical mirror called Providence. She marveled as the mystical glass weaved images to grant her wish. She asked Providence to show her the course of her life. Hazy images tumbled on the surface of the mirror, until the image of a budding plant became clear. The little girl stared as the plant broke ground, spread its leaves and absorbed the life giving rays from the sun. She giggled as the bud formed. She was caught in wonder as the petals opened to reveal their bright yellow color. “A dandelion!” She shrieked with excitement.

Providence flicked images of the girls early childhood, memories cherished and delicate. These were bright thoughts full of hope. The girl reached out and touched the mirror as images of hobbies and familiar faces flipped in the scenery behind the blooming dandelion. There were images of loved ones lost, faces of new love, faces of hope and some of sadness. The images reflected in the girls beaming eyes, as she absorbed a life she knew.

The flower reached full bloom, and the girl was in awe. The delicate flower of yellow was radiant, optimistic, full, inviting and magnificent, she thought. The girl knew most of the life Providence had reflected. Some of it was very fresh in her memory. She was struck at how clever the mirror was to compare her to a Dandelion. She loved Dandelions. She loved to collect them when the flowers were in bloom. She loved to blow the white whispers of fluff into the wind.

The scenery changed behind the plant as the flower closed. The girls’ eyes widened as she watched the unfamiliar life of a future unfold. The plant changed as it morphed from flower to seed. It looked like a delicate fluffy ball of purity. Legend has it that when a baby laughs for the first time, the sound of that laughter is caught in the gentle feathers of the dandelion seed. The vessel and its unique cargo launch onto the wings of the breeze, to be carried to a magical place. When the floating laugh comes to rest in that place, a fairy is born!

The girls gaze was fixed as she watched the legend unfold before her eyes. She turned her attention to Providences’ image of the dandelion that represented her. She watched as her own voice and her own heart beat touched the feathery seeds as they waited for the breeze. The delicate fluff was pure and white, a vision to behold. She touched them in her own way, imparting a special gift to each one as she did. The familiar breeze blew in from the west, and tickled the delicate seeds into the air. The weightless white seeds lifted up high and far away on the unseen wings of the wind.

Elation and wonder filled the girl as she watched the magical scenes from the extraordinary mirror. Providence displayed the vessels that the girl had touched and showed how each one carried inspiration. As the seed found a resting place, that hope sparked a challenge, ignited with motivation with ambition. The breeze carried each little vessel up and away, to a place where its own story could unfold and grow.

With amazement etched on her face, the girl watched as the wind carried all the dandelion seeds from the plant far away, some even over the horizon. Satisfied with this, the girl turned her focus to what was left of the plant. She was shocked and puzzled by its bare stubby form swaying in the wind. What once carried beautiful petals of yellow, and delicate fluff balls of white, was suddenly stark and bald and sad.

Tears welled up in the girls eyes as she pondered how this reflection would represent her later life. Sadness was replaced with terror as she watched the plant gradually wither and wilt. The once strong plant was gone. A lonely and dying plant was all that was left. Providence saw the change in the girls’ reaction and was puzzled by the look of horror on the girls face. She asked the girl what had distressed her so. “Oh Providence,” the girl wailed, “what was once so beautiful and bright, it turned into something gentle, magical, fluffy and white. It sparkled with inspiration and touched the world with hope. Yet see, it’s sad and lonely and dies.”  She pointed to the remnants of the plant as it was absorbed by the ground.

“Oh girl, silly thee be. Wait, sit, see!” The girl slumped to the floor in front of the mystical mirror. “Your focus, your view, is wrong it seems.” The mirror changed the view she displayed to the girl. The magical glass highlighted the whole image. “You feel this one plant is thee?” Providence drew the sobbing girls’ attention to the faded plant. “It is but a day, a moment, in a great wide sea.” The girl wiped her tears. For the first time she noticed the field in which the plant stood. It wasn’t on its own. It was in a field full of dandelion plants.

As far as the girl could see, there were bright yellow flowers growing in the sun. There were patches of white waiting for wings. Slowly the girl got to her feet. She viewed the entire field. Some plants had delivered its seed. Some, like the one she had seen, were being absorbed into the ground. These fed the shoots, new and lean, made them grow tall and green. New ones grew as old ones died. Some plants were buds, some flowered.

The girl took a step back from the mirror, and started to beam. The whole field was full of yellow and white and green. She smiled wide inside. She smiled and smiled inside, until it showed on her outside. “A single plant is not all of you. Look, a field, full, magnificent, beautiful, delicate, magical and giving. This whole field is a picture of you!”