The Broken Necklace
A cool, pleasant morning greeted Mother Nature as she stepped out in the garden. Soft zephyr lightly brushed her cheeks. Sunflowers and daisies swayed on beats of bees buzzing and humming. Leaves gently shook themselves out from their slumber. Mother Nature was jubilant. Nothing could be more peaceful and serene. She looked up at the azure clear sky and waved to the fleecy clouds scurrying by.
She sat down on the soft grass with a small pouch, string and needle in hand. Twittering, chirping birds came and sat around watching her curiously. Slowly Mother threaded the needle with a strong golden thread and opened the pouch. The birds blinked their eyes as a dazzling light greeted them. In the pouch lay the most beautiful pearls they had ever seen.
Mother picked up each pearl and threaded it carefully singing happily. The birds too joined her in chorus. Branches of trees tried to see what was happening on the grass below. With every sigh of the breeze they tried to bend lower to see and admire the pearls. Suddenly, the breeze in her eagerness to help the branches see the pearls more closely, came playfully around Mother Nature in a swirl.
The birds fluttered away and, Oh no! All the pearls scattered on the grass. Mother tried to gather the pearls as quickly as possible, but the breeze dispersed them far and wide
What a task at hand! Mother Nature started picking up each pearl stuck in the grass. At that moment the soft grass beckoned her to come closer. Mother bent towards the ground and the blades whispered something to her. Slowly, she straightened herself and stood thinking. She stood there in a pensive mood unable to decide what to do. The birds realizing Mother’s predicament, collected the scattered pearls and put them back in the pouch.
Soon night settled in, and everyone went to sleep under a black sequined blanket. Selena glided across the sky and saw Mother pacing in the garden. Words whispered by the blades kept coming to Mother’s mind
“O! Mother, can we ask you a favour. For a long time we’ve been wondering, you’ve given the sky a big dazzling jewel in the day. At night you adorn the sky with millions of sequins. Selena too shimmers and glitters. Why are there no jewels on the earth below? Can you give us some jewel too?”
Mother had assured them with a promise “I will find a way to make you happy too.” Now she kept on thinking. The night slowly started to stir out of sleep. Faint streaks of light started appearing in the sky. Suddenly Mother Nature had an idea. She ran to her jewel chest and took out the pouch with the pearl necklace. Hurriedly she ran down the garden path and as she ran she kept on strewing pearls on the grass and leaves.
And to this day, she comes before dawn to sprinkle the pearl like dewdrops on the grass and leaves. The necklace she wanted to string remained broken.
The pearls now lay underneath curls and furls of flowers and leaves
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