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Once upon a time, there was a man whose wife loved roses. So, he planted a giant garden full of roses for her. The roses were so beautiful; people from all over came to pay to see them. Soon, the man and his wife became very rich. But, a plague spread over the entire village and the wife, who was now with child, became very sick. The man hired the most expensive doctors to come and try to heal her, but they all told him the same thing. That she was going to die and nothing could stop it. The man wept, for he knew that he could not save his beloved. He stayed by her side for her final weeks, but she never got better, she only got worse. On her final day, she told her husband to go into the garden and pick a rose on the first rose bush his eye fell on. The man thought she was delirious for it was winter and all the rose bushes had died, but never the less he did as she said. He went up to the first dead rose bush he set eye on and to his surprise there was one single rose, 1/3 of it was white, another 1/3 was pink, and another 1/3 of it was red, and it more beautiful than any rose he had ever seen. So, he took the rose in to his dieing wife. She took the rose in her hand and said to him, "Tonight at midnight go directly to the forest. On the seventh tree you see, there will be a sick sparrow. Nurse the sparrow back to health, and it will turn into a gnarly old witch. She will give you a wish, and you give her the rose, and tell her you want her to change it into the daughter that I am carrying. Follow my directions, and you will surely live happily ever after." And after those words, she died. The man tore his clothes and mourned for his beloved wife. At midnight he took the beautiful rose and headed out into the forest. The forest was dark and secluded. It was a large forest, and it wasn't long until he saw the seventh tree. As he was getting closer to the tree, he started to hear a chirping sound. And, on the seventh branch there was a little sparrow. He picked the sparrow up and quickly realized it had a broken leg. He remembered what his wife had said, and ripped off a piece of his shirt and tore a twig from one of the branches of the tree, then made a little splint for the bird. Suddenly the sparrow turned into a gnarly old woman with ratted silvery gray hair and a large hunch in her back. "Water," she demanded. The man quickly directed the old woman to a nearby stream. She bent down and drank the water. "Thank you; you are a good-hearted soul. In return for your kindness, I will grant you one wish." He promptly replied, "If you please, ma'am, turn this rose into the daughter that my wife that has passed away was carrying." He handed her the rose, and she set it on the ground and spoke softly to it saying:

"From rose to baby
In the wake of night
Over laden with cheer and delight
Full of luster like a pearl
With your fair blonde curls
The little rose girl."
Then she stomped on the rose and it turned into a beautiful smiling baby girl, with perfect blonde curls, skin as pale and glowing as the white portion of the rose, cheeks as ruddy as the pink portion of the rose, and lips as full and scarlet as the red portion of the rose. The man was overjoyed and held the beautiful baby tightly in his arms. He spun around to show his thanks to the old woman, but she had already hobbled away into the darkness.

Learn more about this author, Basia Elyse Arial.
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