The Story of a Floret; Narcissus Poeticus by Artem Zavalniuk

Once upon a time, on the Meadow,

a strange but splendid flower called Narcissus has drawn up from a slim fresh-green stalk. It was unlike any other flower; everything was spot on: intricate wavy white haircut, the hot orange colour in the middle as if he was kissed by the Sun, and very tall and slim body. You can hardly imagine nobody picks this flower.

Every first day of May there was a special occasion when goblins and gnomes across the whole Shadowlands sent their best people to the Meadow. They were assigned to find the most beautiful flowers for their ladies. By the years of experience, they had already known what their ladies are interested in: the lifespan of a flower (the longer, the better) and it's unfading color.

Young and naive, Narcissus thought that the more beautiful he would be, the more sophisticated and posh place he would be picked to.

With the ideal image in mind, the Narcissus began to get dressed up for a pivotal moment: he was awaiting a pick. He was so obsessed with his appearance so he'd kept to a diet: more sun, less water. Each day before the 1st of May, he would wake up and look precisely at the Sun to be the whitest flower on the Meadow! It's believed that it's Sun which makes flowers brighter. And everybody likes beautiful bright, slim and ever-lasting flowers!

* * *

The goblins were creatures with the wrinkled green face, smirking more than breathing the air. Unlike their counterparts, gnomes, they carry out robberies for a living. They were angry with the life people forced them to do. 

When the 1st of May arrived to its day in the calendar, the goblins came to the Meadow seeking a flower. They were searching over and over again, willing to pick flowers as they thought were the best. For them, the best flower wasn't that of the brightest color or the slimmest posture. 'The uglier, the better' thought the goblins. 'So that nothing could outperform my appearance!' 

When the goblins saw the Narcissus sunbathing in the middle of the Meadow, they started laughing at him, mocking his white and bright colors. For sure, they humiliated his slim posture.

 'Hey! How dare you! I was just... ..', shouted little floret. 'That's unfair! Do you wanna say nobody will love for my splendid look now?', crying over and over. He was weeping so much that all the water came out of him. 

Goblins were gone in a minute after they gathered the ugliest flowers. While the best one had chocked to death.

It doesn't matter what beautiful flower you are if only goblins come all along. 

The next hour, hard-working and caring gnomes came, recognising a strange brownish weed. They didn't know it was named Narcissus.