Dove Orchid

The garden was a happy place. Colors bloomed from rosy tulips, sunny daffodils, and stunning lilacs. Every spring, the bees and butterflies would come to the garden to visit. Each time, the flowers would sway in delight of their friends’ arrival.

But, in the corner behind some rocks, there stood a tiny dove orchid, light in color and dark in mood. For the poor orchid felt as if she did not belong in that garden - she was far too plain compared to the others. Whenever the insects came to say hello, they would always go to the more interesting flowers, like the buttercups or the lilies, and the little orchid would shy away, leaning down towards the dirt in hopes to not draw any attention to herself.

One day, as the other flowers were chatting with a new butterfly who had come to visit, a tiny bumblebee flew over towards the orchid. She immediately took cover, letting the passing wind knock her figure lower to the ground. She peeked out through the pebbles in front of her, to see the bee buzzing around, seemingly curious. He looked around, and suddenly made eye contact with the little flower behind the rocks.

“Hello!” he exclaimed with all the excitement of a young child. “Who are you? I cannot see your face.”

The dove orchid froze - she had never had any insect come to talk to her, much less anyone at all.

“Go away.” she whispered, terrified he would draw more attention to her. The bee tilted his head, obviously confused.

“But why? Don’t you talk to the other flowers? And the bees and the butterflies?”

His questions nearly overwhelmed her. She sank lower behind the rocks, hoping to lose his interest.

“Just go away, please,” she could barely recognize her own voice. “The other flowers don’t talk to me. I don’t belong in this garden. I’m kind of...alone over here.” She gasped, and stopped talking. She hadn’t meant to tell this stranger so much. The wind blew again, and she shivered. The bee frowned, and landed on one of the rocks.

“I would very much like to talk to you. You seem nice.” he insisted. The orchid sighed - she obviously wasn’t going to get rid of this bug any time soon.

“You don’t get it,” her tone became more forced. “I really don’t talk to anyone. Nobody talks to me, so I don’t talk to them.”

The bee gave her a cheeky smile. “But...you’re talking to me, aren’t you?”

The orchid glared at him, as much attitude as a flower could possibly give a bumblebee.

“Just go away.” she muttered. So the bee went away, along with his family.

The next day, the same group of bugs arrived at the garden. The orchid peeked out from among the rocks, and luckily did not see the bothersome bee that she had encountered the day before. She determined that she would go back to her regular routine of hiding behind the stones and watching the others interact.

“Boo!” The dove orchid nearly jumped out of the dirt. There he was, the same bee from before. He had hid behind her, so she wouldn’t know he was there. She was so surprised, she turned around to see who had made the noise. The bee smiled - he finally got her to show her face. And to him, she seemed the most gorgeous in the entire garden. Her pure white color shone brighter than any of the blossoming blues and yellows and pinks of the other flowers. Her petals looked soft to the touch, but he wouldn’t dare reach out unless he knew he could. This bee knew how to respect flowers like her. He smiled sadly. She’ll never be mine. He thought to himself. Her voice brought him out of his train of thought.

“Excuse you!” she exclaimed, her angry tone becoming lost in the phrase. For on the inside she felt rather curious - why did this bee come back to her? Didn’t he know that she was supposed to be alone? That nobody ever would appreciate her?

“Hey, chill out!” the bee responded. “It was just a harmless joke. Plus, it got you to show me your face.”

The dove orchid internally blushed at this statement. It wasn’t because she was flattered, but rather embarrassed. She knew that her figure wasn’t the most pleasant to look at - that was her opinion, at least. She turned back to the rocks away from the bee, but he buzzed over in front of her and peeked through to see her again.

“What’s up with you?” the orchid spoke again, trying to keep herself calm. “Can’t you see I’m supposed to be alone?”

“You should try talking to the others. I’m sure they’d like to see you!” the bee responded, hopeful. The orchid drooped her head. “No one would ever like to see something like me.”

The bee squinted at the ground, for he did not know what to do. He figured the lovely flower would not be teased by the others.

“Well I think you’re beautiful.” he blurted out, before covering his mouth in shock. Oh, my! He thought to himself. Have I really just admitted that? The orchid looked at the bee’s flushed face and suddenly felt like laughing.

“What’s so funny?” the bee questioned as the orchid let out a small giggle, which turned into more laughter. She calmed herself down, and spoke again to the bee.

“Well, I have never heard that statement in my life! Not directed at me, I mean.”

The bee just shook his head. That’s ridiculous, he thought. For how could anyone possibly not love this gorgeous flower girl right here? The bee reluctantly flew away when his family called him, but he promised the orchid he would be back the next day. She nodded, feeling overwhelmed but slightly better about her new acquaintance.

The next day, it rained. A few children came running past the garden. They stopped to look at the pretty flowers, eyeing the tulips and the daffodils and the lilacs.

“I like that one!” exclaimed one little boy, pointing at a cheerful buttercup. “They remind me of the sun! And yellow’s my favorite color.”

“Well I like those ones.” said a girl in a pink dress, as she referred towards the confidently standing lilies. “They have the same name as me!”

Another child looked around curiously, seeming to not take any interest in the brightly colored flowers. He kneeled down in the dirt, surely getting the fabric of his pants muddy. But he didn’t seem to care - his focus was on one thing...the tiny dove orchid in the corner. She cautiously peered up at him, and for a second her eyes lit up - was someone finally about to notice her?

As quickly as her hopes rose, they fell again - he was reaching his little hand out to grab her from the dirt! She closed her eyes tight and strained to hold her roots in the ground. She felt his hand close around her stem, and she uncomfortably struggled to hold herself in her place. Suddenly, the hand let go and the children ran away, some screaming in fear.

The orchid opened her eyes to see something she didn’t expect - a whole swarm of bumblebees were flying around the garden and had scared off the children! Right in the front of the buzzing army hovered none other than the one tiny bee that had come to talk to the orchid the past couple days. The bee flew around the blubbering buttercups and the terrified tulips right to the side of the shivering dove orchid.

“I saw the children over here,” the bee admitted. “And as soon as I noticed that one boy reach for you, I knew I had to do something.” The orchid had never had anyone do anything for her in her life, much less save her life.

“I...don’t know what to say,” she coughed out, her stem still weak from the boy’s hand. “I didn’t think I was that special.”

The bee shook his head. “You’re more special than you realize, Orchid.” She looked at him, confused. The other flowers had caught onto the chaos in the corner, and were all trying their best to see over one another to figure out what was happening. The little bee then turned around and whistled, cueing a swarm of colorful butterflies to flutter into the area. They carried with them a piece of paper with writing on it. The bee read the information to the orchid, and revealed to her what she had been missing her entire life.

“You, my dear flower,” the bee began. “Are a Dove Orchid. You are considered extremely rare back in your home country. You may not have known this, but you are truly special.”

The orchid was taken aback at this information. All her life, she had been the ignored plant in the back of the garden. The one who never interacted with any of the other flowers or insect friends. And now, she could barely believe that she was more than a plain white flower. That she was more than the short little weed-like plant who stayed in the shadows. Three days ago, she was the loner. Now, she felt like the main attraction.

She felt herself standing taller and taller every day as her confidence grew. The bee watched from his hive located in a tree across from the garden. He was so proud of her. And every time the children would come back, they would stare longingly at the beauty of the flowers, but especially paid attention to the little dove orchid in the back.

The garden was now, and always would be, a happier place.