The last rose

Once upon a time, there lived a very sweet, pretty girl. Each day she would sit by her vase of roses and watch them. She paid attention to every little detail that changed. She noticed every petal begin to fade and droop, but one. She noticed the roses starting to die, but one. Each day after one would die; she would press it into her book, but one. This one rose never changed, it stayed the same each day. The girl’s handsome boyfriend, Max, had gave her the roses, ten to be exact. Each day she saw Max, she would tell him the same thing, “the one rose, it never changed.”
Then days went by and she watched the rose harder, she would concentrate on it more. She didn’t know why the rose would not die; she did not understand it at all. She thought about pressing it into her scrapbook, and never to think of it again, but she felt a special connection to the rose that she could never explain. The girl knew this was no ordinary rose; it was definitely more than a rose. There was something about it that made her feel complete, whole.
One day, when Max came by, he gave her a key. She asked him, “what is this key for?” But he did not answer. So each day the girl would study the key, then the rose, and finally she would study them both together. The girl began to get frustrated. She wondered, “why would Max give me a rose that never died and a key to unlock nothing?” She wondered this day after day. She would always ask Max “what is the key and rose for?” But he would never answer.
A couple weeks later, while Max was visiting her, he gave her an envelope that was fairly heavy. On the outside of the envelope in bold print was the phrase, “Do Not Open.” The girl asked Max, “when can I open the envelope?” He responded, “in the future.” Two days went by of the girl studying the envelope, key, and rose. On the fifth day of studying the envelope, the girl had an extreme urge to open it. Her hands told her to open it, but her brain said no. She was becoming impatient, every bone in her body was telling her to open it, but she never would.
One night after getting home late from grocery shopping, she saw a large figure in her bedroom. She walked into her room and turned the light-switch on. There on the bed sat a beautiful glass shadow box. It was see through the whole entire way around. The girl saw a key hole on the side of the box; a note was taped to the side of the box beside it. The girl ran to the note and frantically tore it open. On the inside, the note was full of insructions.
1. Unlock the shadow box. The girl ran into the kitchenand grabbed the key off the table. She ran back to the bedroom and unlocked the door.
2. Place the rose inside the shadow box. The girl once again ran back to the kitchen. She clutched the the rose and envelope in her hand. She placed the rose nicely on the shelf in the shadow box.
3. Open the envelope, but don’t read the slate inside. “That’s what it was,” she thought, “that’s why the envelope was so heavy.” She opened up the envelope and held the slate so she could not read the front.
4. Place the slate in the little slot provided near the bottom of the shadow box. The girl placed the slate in the box, then stepped back and read the slate while admiring the magnificent shadow box. She then read the slate out loud, “I will love you with all of my heart, until the last rose dies, love Max.” The girl gasped. She turned around and saw Max walk out of her living room. “I love you too,” she said to Max, “forever and always.”

submitted by Katelyn Mayle