The Dreaming Flower

                             

Once upon a time a young maiden went out to collect herbs. Farther into the woods she found the prettiest, most delicate flowers for her bouquet. However, she was so engrossed in her herbs and flowers, she didn’t know she was being watched. The Forest Demon was after her. He took the girl to a secluded meadow, enclosed by thick bushes and enormous rocks. There was no way out. The girl looked around horrified.

Then, the Forest Demon shapeshifted into a beautiful young man and stood in front of the girl.

“Don’t fear me, lady! I shall do you no harm. But you must become my wife for I am the ruler of these lands!”, he said.

“Over my dead body!”, cried the maiden.

But there was no way out so she was determined to fight the Forest Demon.  Out of a sudden, he turned into a hideous old man and walked towards the girl in a most menacing manner. He reached for her arm, but she flinched with disgust and hit him in the face as hard as she could.

A deafeningly loud thunder broke out and made the Demon drop the girl’s arm. What is more, he fell on the ground and started shaking.

The maiden tried to run away but she couldn’t take even a step farther. Some  kind of supernatural force had taken hold of her. She tried to fight it for so long that she fell on the grass and dreamt of a strange dream. Soon, she descended into the blue sky like a white cloud and disappeared completely.

On that same place, where the girl had lain, grew violet flowers with pistils facing the sun. We call them Dreaming Flowers. Their petals hold breathtaking beauty but are also poisonous. According to the legend, that’s the embodiment of the girl’s sorrow. But these flowers can also be healing because the girl was pure, kind and generous.