Asteroid 325

Life has been meek here on Asteroid 325. Ever since my boy left, I’ve been worrying about him non-stop. Well, I’ve been worrying about my future and my chance of survival, more than anything. I have needs, you know? One cannot spend the whole day being pretty and smelling amazing without needing some pampering here and there. At first, the lack of his presence was not a reason for concern. After all, he did leave the screen for me to use at night. Those drafts are real killers. One quick breeze and BAM! Your petals wither, your thorns fall off, and you lose all your fragrance. And what’s a rose without her fragrance? Nothing! She might as well be a caterpillar feeding ground, for crying out loud! 

My beautiful, luscious petals! What would I do without them? Would anybody take a second look at me, were I a simple thorny stem with some pollen attached to it? I don’t think so. 

It is hard, being a rose. You can’t simply exist. You must make sure to have admirers. A rose should always have someone to take care of her. Panels and caterpillar elimination are just the tip of the baobab. There is so much more to it! Ideally, a rose would be watered in the early hours of the evening, as soon as the sun sets. I can’t really have water on my splendid red petals while the sun is still out, now, can I? It would act as a magnifying glass and I would get burn marks. How awful! No, no. A rose can only be fed once the sun isn’t shining on her anymore. Which is convenient, in a sense. Watching the sunset with your person is fundamental: it strengthens the bond you share with them, and then all you have to do is to hint shily at the watering can, maybe with a little throat clearing. This ensures you’ll never go hungry.

“Ehm-ehm,” I had said a few minutes after the sun had gone to sleep for the day. 

But the little prince hadn’t heard me. “Ehm-ehm,” I repeated, louder. 

“Is there anything I could do for you, my rose?”

“I’m feeling a bit peckish, if you don’t mind.” The secret in getting what you want, when you want it is to never ask for it. Let them offer things to you, instead. This way, you’ll have more control over what you receive and you won’t come across as needy. A rose can be needy at times, but aren’t I also kinda necessary? Exactly! And that gives me the right to be needy, albeit covertly. 

“Sure, I’ll get you some water. Is the screen ok for you?”

“Hmm, judging by the way in which your hair is moving in the breeze, it looks like it might be a drafty night…” 

“I’ll get your glass globe, so you’ll be protected and warm.” 

Like I said, never ask for anything. 

“Oh, how embarrassing. I think I am growing a fifth thorn. You’ll think of me as aggressive now, won’t you?”

“How could I ever see you as aggressive? You couldn’t hurt a fly if you wanted to.”

His remark deeply offended me. Of course I could hurt a fly, if I wanted to! I just never had a reason to do it, that’s all. Harmless, me? Has he not seen my prickly stem? Absurd!

“So, you were about to bring me my glass globe…”

“Right, I’m on it.” The little prince got up and brought me my globe before tending to his nightly routine: sweeping the volcano, checking on the sheep, and so on…

That night I slept a dreamless sleep knowing that my little prince was there to take care of me and to fulfill my every need, no matter how real or imagined. Life was good as a rose! 

On the day he told me he wanted to leave, my world fell apart and thus began the realization of my worst fear. I would have to face everything alone. The drafts, the caterpillars, the baobabs.. How could I survive on such a treacherous planet all by myself? 

But a rose never asks for anything, not directly at least. He would have to get there on his own. Of course he didn’t really want to leave me. That wasn’t possible. It was probably just a phase, something he needed to get off his chest, and then he'd get back to his right mind and he would stay. Nobody would abandon me, that’s just nonsense. 

We all need beauty in our lives and who better to provide it than a mesmerizing red rose? Nobody, that’s who. 

In our time together, the little prince and I watched an abundance of sunsets, but none of them felt as somber as that last one on the night before his departure. I did all that was in my power to make him change his mind that night, I even pretended to have a severe cough only he could cure. Wasn’t I one of the main reasons why he had a life worth living? 

Still, all my efforts were for nothing. With the first rays of sunshine my prince was gone. 

I spent days thinking he would come back, thinking he would instantly regret abandoning me to my own fate. But oh, was I wrong!

I followed his journey from afar and I saw him travel from one planet to the next, asking questions like he had been asking me, sitting next to those people as if they needed tending. Who were those people, anyway? Kings? Geographers? Important business men? Nobody cares! They couldn’t be as important as me! I am unique, what did they

bring to the table? Some rules, maps, and money? Pff. What a waste of everybody’s time, particularly mine. 

I needed my prince back. And I am ashamed to admit that I believed he’d come back, until he reached the very last planet. It was certainly the most peculiar planet of all. There, people felt alone even when they were enjoying each other’s company. How could that be? I’d never felt alone with my prince, it was his presence that made every single one of my days special. 

“He’ll come back to you,” I murmured to myself, “it’s impossible for him to live without you. Don’t despair!” 

But all my thoughts and hopes were in vain. The second he walked into that field of roses I knew it was over. How could I dream for him to come back after he’d uncovered my lies? Of course, I had no choice but to deceive him! The chances of him taking such great care of me would have dropped drastically, had he known I was not one of a kind, had he known I was replaceable… 

“If you’ll die, I’ll just take your seeds and grow another rose,” he would have said with that angelic voice of his. And that would have crushed me. I could have never allowed him to see me cry. Never! I’m a rose, we are proud beings, you know? I can’t go around showing off my emotions like some conventional daffodil or some whiny daisy. 

Oh, my prince! What will you think of me now that you know I am one of many? Will you smash the glass globe, or will you simply never come back to me and leave me to my own despair? 

As I saw him walk through the interminable patch of roses, I felt my petals starting to wither.

“Come back!” I screamed from the top of my lungs. 

“Come back to your one and only rose!”

The little prince couldn’t hear me, and continued his conversation with those pink imposters. 

How could they take him away from me? They will never be able to give him the respect and affection I provided him with. They would never watch all those sunsets with him!

It is unfathomable the pain that one feels after realizing that she’s lost all she ever had. Why should my petals be red and velvety, if he’s not around to admire them? Why should I smell like an inviting, sweet spring, if he’s not here to appreciate my aroma? 

Look at him, talking to those ugly roses! As if they could ever be as important as me! 

Suddenly the caterpillars, the sheep, and the drafts lost their menacing qualities, and I wished for them to come and take my life away. After all, how can a splendid rose like me live with a broken heart? 

When I finally closed my eyes, I saw a tiny yellow butterfly land on my lifeless body and I smiled. It must be true, what they say…

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”