Short Stories

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The Rose

As the delicate crimson rose petals fell upon the dry ground, a sigh of regret enveloped her.
She, a former Grand Beauty, now lay exposed to the harsh world, the scorching sun, and the unforgiving elements. How she longed for a shower to cool her, just a drop of refreshing water to quench her thirst. She had never known thirst as this before.
The sun beat down showing no mercy. It mocked her as she was now far removed from her so called protection. The protection of the spiny thorns, the lofty stem, and the vibrant green leaves were deceptive. What good did they do her now? Where were the thorns with their promise to pierce those who’d harm her? Where was the stem now, promising to hold her up high? Where was the vibrant foliage now? It too now was turning yellow and falling to the loam around her.
If only she could return to her place of grandeur, the place where she would again bask in the sun and feast on the rich nutrients of the soil beneath her. Only if she could have one more day, she would really value it then!
She reminisced of the bees, how they were so attracted to her aromatic fragrance, how she would entice them to sup on her irresistible nectar. For she was by far the most fragrant flower in the garden!
She mused over the many people who had stopped to admire her fullness, her brilliant color, her splendor. After all she did deserve such attention.
But alas, now she lay like waste among the loamy soil that had once supplied her bounty. She had become nothing more than a faded, shriveled, nothingness. If only she had known this day would come she would have cherished more; she would have looked further than herself; she’d feel differently maybe. If only she could warn others that this day would come…. If only….
Luke 14:11 (New International Version)
11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Isaiah 55:6-7 (New King James Version)
6 Seek the LORD while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the LORD,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 58:9-16 (New International Version)
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Isaiah 40:6-8 (New International Version)
6 A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."
1. Isaiah 5:24
Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.

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