The Seaweed

Mr. Oxeye daisy and Mrs. Seaweed

There once was an Oxeye daisy man that grew by the shore. During the day he stretched towards the road further up the hill. Every now and then he caught sight of a girl in love. He tried to wave at them, wishing they would sing; "loves me, loves me not" for him. If I get plucked, peeled and sung for, I might be a part of her love, Mr. Oxeye daisy thought waving his white petals.

But no girl ever noticed the Oxeye daisy by the shore. All summer he stood waving towards the road thinking of nothing else but how unjust it was that he grew so far from the pavement. Had he only relaxed a bit and looked around him he would have discovered Mrs. Seaweed. She grew on a stone out in the water. When the tide went out she looked up and whispered: "Mr. Oxeye daisy, I'm so in love with you."

Only when the autumn winds started to pull his petals did Mr. Oxeye daisy give up hope of becoming a memory in a young girl's heart. Old and tired he bowed his petals towards the stony shore and sighed: "All my life I have longed, but I have gained nothing." His roots were freezing, his stem shivered when he heard Mrs. Seaweed for the first time. Sadly he turned towards the beach and said: "Who is whispering?"

"It is I," Mrs Seaweed said combing her wet hair. "I have whispered to you all summer for you to be my sweetheart." Mr. Oxeye daisy sighed. "It's too late," he said feeling his stem giving in even further. "I've been so occupied by being a part of someone else's love, that I have forgotten to be in love myself." "It's never too late," Mrs. Seaweed said. "Come over here, and I will comfort you in my soft arms." Mr. Oxeye daisy was so glad to hear this that he felt both younger and stronger, but then he became disheartened and sad again.

"How can I come to you? My roots are in the ground, my stem is dry and stiff and I'm about to lose all my beauty?" "You don't need beauty to come to me," Mrs Seaweed replied mildly. "Love conquers everything."

From that day on Mr. Oxeye daisy always stood facing Mrs. Seaweed. She whispered sweet words and sent them to him with the wind. And the wind became stronger every day. It blew away his petals and pulled his stem. "Blow harder," Mr. Oxeye daisy shouted, "that silly breeze won't hurt me."

The wind became irritated by the Oxeye daisy by the shore. "I'll show you what kind of forces you are teasing," the wind said and pulled Mr. Oxeye daisy right out of the soil. In a second Mr. oxeye daisy flew over the sand and landed in Mrs. Seaweed's soft green arms.

She looked at the withered uprooted flower and whispered: "Oh my dearest Mr. Oxeye daisy. Finally I can hold you in my arms, finally." Mr. Oxeye daisy smiled back. "Yes, finally we are together," he said. "And how much better it is to be in love, than just envy others."