The Hearty Plant

Once a man bought a house.  And at the house, there was a garden.  The garden was full of lovely things.  But, over time, the plants died off and the weeds grew up.  But there was this one flower.  It was the pride and joy of the man.  He often complimented himself on how well the plant was doing.  Every year it came back.  Every year it had abundant, beautiful blooms.  Every year, it brought the man pleasure.  He never watered.  It never even crossed his mind.  He never weeded.  It didn't seem necessary.  Until one year.  One year, as spring came, the man looked expectantly for his beloved flower.  His prized plant.  It wasn't there.  He waited a couple of weeks thinking that the weather had been very cold and perhaps the plant was delayed.  Still, no plant.  One morning, in desperation, he went out and pulled the weeds growing around the area that his plant usually grew.  Still, no plant was visible.  After awhile, he took out a watering can and watered the dirt where his flower grew.  Nothing.  He became desperate.  He hoed the ground.  Bought fertilizer.  To no avail.  The plant had not survived.  He mourned.  He moaned.  He wailed.  But the plant was gone.  It's beauty was gone.  The man spent his days scowling.  He had always thought that plants were too much trouble.  No wonder he had never liked gardening.  He was disappointed that his hearty plant had failed him.  That it hadn't come back under his care.  He sulked.  He cried.  But he never even considered that he could have had the plant for many years if he had simply figured out how to care for it.  Instead, he spent his years cursing the fact that his plant never came back again after he had watered and pulled the weeds.