In the heart of a hidden village, surrounded by beautiful
wooden houses, huge pine trees and many flowers lived
Lucecyta; together with her father and a woman we shall call her stepmother. Lucecyta was a very strange child; she never played or laughed, and even though she enjoyed being five years old, she was surprisingly mature. He stepmother would watch her, sad at their lack of closeness. Even though the little one was not affectionate with her, she was nice enough and always helped to maintain the beautiful garden that both of them loved. The little girls heart would jump for joy every time she was with the beautiful flowers, and she would carefully hug them. One day, as the little freckled child was among her favourite flowers, she didnt notice her father come up to her. His daughter looked so serene and innocent that he wanted to hold her shoulder, but upon seeing his shadow, she turned around to tell him: Father, I wish to plant a new flower. Can I have permission to go into the forest and choose a pretty flower for my garden? Please? Her father looked at her lovingly; although he seemed to have a tough exterior, he was always willing to grant her every wish. Go on my daughter, go into the forest. He replied. He never showed a smile to give himself away, but he softly stroked her hair, and then Mr. Diego fled; away from his daughter before the sadness became too much. As he walked towards the house, he felt a strong breeze on his skin, making him remember his wife. At that moment, just as he remembered her and felt a tear fall, his conscious awoke. I am a heartless coward. I didnt tell my little one how much I love her, just as I adored her mother; and how scared I am of losing her too. Almost always, the little girl was to be found among her precious flowers, remembering all the times she watched her mother take care of them with such love, carefully removing any old, dry leaves that ruined their beauty. Now Lucecyta did the same, never taking a rest from attending the flowers. The flowers seemed not to hear anything, only watching and remaining distant from what was happening outside of their lovely home. Lucecyta would talk to them every single day, always wishing that they would speak back to her. Hello! How are you today? Is there any sadness here? she would ask them, and always reply to herself. Yes, there is a lot of sadness; I feel it here in my tummy. This time, when she realised that no flower would ever speak to her, the little girl felt terribly sad. And so, with her spirit full of pain and unanswered questions, she got up from the flowerbed to find her father and with her sweet, quiet voice, asked him: Daddy, wheres my mummy? I need her to teach me about what is right and wrong. Lucecytas need to know about her mother was so big that Mr. Diego couldnt find the way to explain, and fell into a deep silence as he held her closely. The flowers in the garden heard the conversation, but one of them felt the little girls pain especially, deep down in its seed; and so it called on the Flower Angel to ask for her help. Angel, I want to talk to you. I know youre very busy, but this is more important Flower Angel Angel The girl angel, mortified by the shouts, appeared without her flowery cane: Why cant I even take a nap? Whats happened now? Though the flower was hidden behind all the others, when it saw its carer complaining, it worked up the courage to tell her: Im the one who called you Essence its really important. Essence, the angel carer who gave colour and perfume to the flowers, was still a little annoyed at being called, but upon seeing the anguished face of her youngest flower, she calmed down to say: You must have a good reason for making all that terrible racket, hehehe. Well, tell me little one, what is making you so sad? The little flower bent over and invited Essence to sit on its petals while it told her: Theres a girl who cares for us and loves us, but and so on it went, telling her all of Lucecytas story. While the little girl was with her father in the garden, crying softly at not finding the answer; the stepmother, who had been close by and listening to them, also felt saddened and believed it was her fault. She wanted to help her husband and the girl, and spoke to her: Come Lucecyta, lets go inside! I want to show you something. Her kind stepmother took her by the hand and the girl obeyed, following her inside the house and to a wooden chest of drawers, where Lucecyta watched her, unsure. Come Lucecyta, come close and look! And she removed a delicate piece of material from a little glass treasure chest, explaining with the wisdom and care of a mother: Do you see this little glass treasure chest with its golden edges? I was given this when I was your age and now its yours! Little one, inside here is the truth, and that is why it is so difficult to tell you. You see it is locked? You wont be able to open it yet, because the only key to this chest is time If you try to open it by force, it could break and the truth that is inside it will escape from you, and you can never return it to the treasure chest. But now what do I do? asked the little child, all worried. So the kind woman explained to her again: Now that you know about the treasure chest and what is inside it, you know that there is a truth. You only have to wait a little for time to bring you the key. Be very careful not to break it, Lucecyta. Because she was a small child, she realised only one thing: that if she could open the beautiful chest, she would know the truth. In the garden, when Essence had heard the story, she felt very moved, and told the flower: What do you want me to do for you? I wish I could help the child, but you know that even if I wanted to help with my magic, I cannot meddle in earthly affairs then I would not be the Flower Angel! Sweet Essence, all I wish is for you to give me permission to speak to that poor girl. That is all! The angel looked at the flower, shaking her head from side to side, quietly denying the request. You do not know what you are asking of me! Let me explain if you speak even just one word to the girl, you will be forgotten forever; your seed will dry out and never again find fertile ground. Despite this, the flower smiled and answered: I know. My mother told me before she gave me her place; but I dont want to continue living if it means that every day I see that poor girl crying and begging us to speak to her, even if just to say Dont cry anymore, everything will get better! Nothing else matters more than that. Please Essence; just give me permission, because even if you dont, I will speak to her anyway As the angel replied, she opened a doorway to see into the future: No, dont do that! Let me show you what will happen I am the only angel on earth who helps by giving colour and perfume to the flowers to give cheer to the world. If you do this without my permission, I will be punished and banished to another land, without being able to give scent to any flower for two whole seasons. You could all get sick and I wouldnt be able to help any of you. I see that you are determined to help that girl, so I will give you my permission. And so Essence gave her consent. She gave life and colour to her chosen flower, as well as a childs voice. The brave flower, despite knowing it would disappear forever, thanked the angel for granting its wish. It waited anxiously for Lucecyta, and the next time she came close, surrounding herself with her favourite flowers to smell their perfume, it looked up to her with little sad eyes wet with dew, and said: I know that you want to know the truth! What a surprise the little girl had! The dream that she had wished for every day had come true! She was so amazed that she could not move, and the curious little flower lightly tapped her with its leaf. She smiled with joy as she realised it was not a dream. I am a flower found in the fields, by the rivers, in the perfumed woods, and in the garden of your home; I can be found anywhere. I know that you feel sad because you dont know where your mother is. And now you have a treasure chest that was given to you, where the truth is waiting. Do not try to open it, not by force Everything will come in its due moment and the key is time. And so in its eagerness to help her, the flower gave her its final piece of advice; all the while, slowly drying up just as the angel had warned it. Without realising that the magic of the speaking flower would soon leave her garden, the little one ran out of there happily, telling it: Wait for me here, beautiful flower, I will be back at sunrise and if time is the key to my little treasure chest, I will work out how to open it. Lucecyta had heard over and over again that time was the key to open the chest, and as she was trying to sleep, she thought: I must know the truth!... I must know the truth! As nightfall came, the flowers went to sleep and the people fell into a deep slumber; and in the middle of the night the little girl ran into the forest, carrying her beautiful, shiny chest in her hands. If I run really fast, I will be able to open it and find out the truth that they are all trying to hide from me. She ran and ran without stopping. She believed that as she ran, time would move faster with her and the chest would open to show her the answer; just as her stepmother had promised. I will run three more times! I can beat time! She ran around the forest, content with her idea, until she tripped over and dropped her little glass chest she didnt know and didnt even want to check if it had broken; just thinking about it made her burst into tears. With a deep sadness she cried and cried until she was heard even in heaven, and then she fell into a deep sleep among the fallen leaves of the forest. Lucecyta entered a wonderful dream, where her mother appeared surrounded by the rays of the sun and tenderly took her onto her lap to speak with her: Do not cry anymore my daughter. Do not go searching in the little glass chest anymore; it represents you yourself, and the truth that it carries inside is there, in your heart. You know, I will always be there with you. Now up you get! Two angels had heard the girl, and were deeply touched; bringing to her the little flower that had given up its own life to try and help her. And as they stroked Lucecytas hair, they sang to it: Little flower, sow your seed, and fill all of the village with flowers that can talk. And the angels looked to the little girl, and also sang together: Wake up little one; you shall also have your reward. The little girl woke up fresh as she would have from a full night of sleep, peaceful as the morning and as content as an angel, and ran back home. She hugged her father just as she used to do, looked over at her new mother, and touched her cheek, telling her while weeping with happiness: I understand! She knew then that her mother had died, and that her new mother was a huge gift from heaven. Ever since then that family has been immensely happy, and yes, of course their village became known for their talking flowers! The End