The Wild Child

Once, a child of man was told by his elders to go into the wild and pick a flower.

Upon ripping the ripe plant, he was to pull the stem and drink from the petals as they bled nectar.

For this would turn the boy into a man.

Upon seeing the most delicate flower, the child yanked and pulled at the roots, however they would not give way.

“Child, why do you hurt us so?” cried the wild.

The child, in confusion, apologized, for he did not know the wild to be sentient.

“Why approach the wild with ill intention, ignorant of the consequences?”

The child replied,

“My elders told me I must be a man in order to return from the wild. They did not say that it came at the price of pain.”

The child then said,

“If the price of being a man is to hurt another, then I will not be, for I learned a better nature from watching the trees.”

The wild said,

“We are not men, but you would offer the same respect to us as that of men?”

The child answered,

“You live, You breathe, You die. Like me. We are alike. I would not wish you to hurt me, so I will not hurt you. I will help you, as I learned from the trees.”