How the plants got their thorns
How the plants got their thorns
In the beginning, there was only a whisper of green, a soft, yielding tapestry of leaves. The sun bathed the world in warmth, the rain sang a lullaby upon the soil, and the creatures of the world lived in harmony. The plants, their leaves tender and supple, offered their bounty freely. Birds perched on their branches, creatures grazed beneath their shade, and the earth thrived.
But one day, a storm raged across the land, its fury shaking the very trees. The animals, frightened, sought shelter, but the plants stood defenseless, their delicate leaves torn and battered by the wind. One such plant, a young sapling named Willow, wept silently, her leaves bruised and tattered.
“Why do you weep, little one?” a wise old oak, weathered and gnarled, asked gently.
Willow, trembling, confessed her fears. “The storm hurts me, and I can’t fight back.”
The oak, his bark creaking like old parchment, sighed. “The world is not always kind, little one. You must learn to protect yourself.” He reached out, his branches brushing against Willow’s. “Look closely, child.”
Willow, her leaves trembling, did as she was told. As she examined the oak’s bark, she saw the rough, toughened ridges, the sharp bumps that made the surface so uneven.
“These,” the oak explained, “are thorns. They are the shield of the plants, a defense against the harshness of the world.”
Willow was amazed. “But how did they come to be?”
The oak, his voice low and rumbling, shared a tale of a time long ago, when the plants were vulnerable and the animals, driven by hunger, often trampled them.
“The Great Mother, seeing the suffering of her children, took pity on them. She drew strength from the earth and breathed it into the plants. With every breath, she whispered a message of resilience, of the need to stand strong against the storms. And so, the plants developed thorns, a testament to the Great Mother’s love and protection.”
Willow, her heart filled with newfound hope, gazed at the oak’s thorns. She felt a strange tingling sensation as the Great Mother’s spirit flowed through her, hardening her own leaves, transforming them into small, sharp spines.
And so, the plants, touched by the Great Mother’s love and strengthened by the Earth’s resilience, gained their thorns. The world became a place of both beauty and defense, a testament to the strength that can be found in even the most delicate of creatures. From that day forward, every time a creature brushed against a thorn, it remembered the tale of the Great Mother and the plants’ journey to find their voice, their strength, and their place in the world.
