continuous fall of snow.A drop of tear spilled through his eyes and crawled down his cheek and fell down melting the ice on the ground.When he shut
his eyes he could still see the painful incident that happened to him in the morning.The king's men had raided their town again and this time
Edward's parents were'nt lucky to escape.They were arrested and were taken to the king's court along with the dozens of others.The king was very
happy to perturb these people and he had an old story as the reason for it.
He was born into a God loving(fearing) family.As a child he would often
forward questions to God which his parents were'nt able to answer.He always fell contempt by the thought that he would be answered someday.But one
sad day his mother died.He was very fierceful this time and threatened God to answer the reason for the death of his mother by midnight.But the
midnight passed as it always did and that night he ran from his house,ran towards infinity to get all his questions answered.He returned after a
decade,he now had the certainty that God doesn't exist and he returned to start a rampage against all the countrymen who still accepted Him.While he
was gone,his younger brother was declared the heir to the throne,whom he easily overthrew and became the ruler.He set up savvy rules for the public
and warned them to follow those strictly.All the God fearing(loving) men,started loving(fearing) the king.Yet a few citizens continued to worship the
real Master and the king ordered his men to find all those who are disobeying him.He intended to behead all of them on Christmas day in front of the
crowd to challenge the power of God if he had any or if He existed.
So,Edward sat there confused.He didn't know where his parents were and
when would they be back.But he knew something was wrong,his instincts made him feel awkward.He got up from the stairs and walked a few steps to sit
on the swing in the park.He pushed it back and made it come in motion.Edward's feet barely reached the ground as he rested against one iron rope of
the swing.It was making a loud sqeaking sound as it stroked the lonely air.As Edward was moving his eyes around,he saw a red rose.A rose which was
dying in the acute winter.He walked towards the rose in quick steps and squat before it.Slowly,he touched the rose with his hand but as soon as he
tried to get hold of it,a petal got crushed between his fingers.He got scared and threw back his hand swiftly.He felt verysad at it's condition and
rushed back into his house to fetch some water.Although he did'nt know what would help the rose but water was the first thought that creeped into his
mind.But there was none of it left in his home.He returned back into the park and carried ice and put it into the boiling pot.He took as much ice as
his tiny hands could allow but it wasn't enough.So he got the boiling pot outside and overloaded it with ice.Holding the heavy pot he entered his
house and started heating the pot.As the ice melt he touched the pot with his naked fingers and burnt a part of his thumb.But he didn't give up,he
took the pot outside using a cloth to protect his fingers,and poured the water in the roots of the rose.
Through his powerful sixth sense he could feel that the rose was alive
and it responded to the warm water.Thus he got more water and finally sat besides the rose.He stared at it continuously and he knew he liked it.The
next day Edward woke up late,he was expecting his mother to come to wake him.But it wasn't late before his mind revived the incidents that had
happened the other day.He went outside,the snow fall had stopped and the sky looked clearer.Then he saw the rose,it was looking so much alive.It was
as if someone had blowed life into its veins.It became close to its original red colour and its petals were strong.Edward again sat besides it and
started talking to it.He told him his dreadful tale and expressed so much sorrow in front of it.Edward was crying hard,harder than he ever had while
he was narrating his misery.But soon he felt good,it seemed as if the burden which had made his heart heavy had been crushed and its pieces were
pouring through his eyes.He befriended the rose and spent most of his time talking to it.He shed so much love on it that it was making the rose heal
faster.It was the Christmas Eve and there was no celeberation in town.The snow fall had stopped since a few days then and the chilly winds had slowed
down.That night Edward decided to sleep outside.He did'nt fear the cold anymore because he had already been through more horrid things.He got his
blanket and lied down besides the rose,covering a part of it with the blanket.
It seemed as if Jesus had sprinkled his blessings on the town as Sun came
out that day.Ice was still there on the earth and it was shining in the Sun.One strong glitter was increasingly falling into the eyes of Edward.Hence
he woke up and sat in a position with his back lying over his fist.He realized he had pulled over the whole blanket over himself.He looked around and
had a wide smile on his face when he felt how beautiful the day was.It was then he heard the trumpets being played for the king.The king had come for
a final round of the town to see if any of the defaulters were still living happily.He had directed his men to find all the people with either a
cross or an idol in their homes.So as he moved along he reached the house of Edward,who was still wrapped in his blanket and was trembling with
fear.The king forced a laughter out of his face but then when suddenly he saw the rose.It was the only rose in the town and the most alluring one the
king had ever seen.His eyes were glued to it for moments and moments.When he went closer and tried to pluck it,a thorn pierced his fingers.He felt
dreadful pain,a pain similar to the one he felt in his heart on losing his mother.
It was that pain which went on to change his soul forever,it turned him
into a different person altogether.Now he believed in the existence of God,the existence in the form of love.It is love which gives joy or pain,it is
love which rewards for good deeds and punishes for unacceptable ones.It is love which exists as God and controls our mind,our heart,our soul and us!
Akul Sharma
