The Honeysuckle Bush
January 12, 2022Once upon a time, when I was a very little—
We needed to pause the show for this?
Yes, yes, listen.
When I was very little, my older sister showed me a wonderful treat in the neighbor's yard. She walked me up the grassy slope to the place where their yard met ours, and she showed me a bush covered in fragrant white blooms. She plucked two flowers—one for her and one for me—and she showed me how to drink its nectar.
I was ecstatic. It was delicious! I'd never experienced anything like it. Everything I'd ever eaten came from the store. I'd never even been to an orchard—to pick an apple—and the only berries that grew in our yard were the bright red ones. The ones Mom had told us to never, ever eat. She showed us the little brown bottle of ipecac should we ever be foolish enough to try. But here it was—a magnificent bush with delicious nectar that I could just pick and enjoy!
I couldn't stop thinking about it.
I couldn't stop thinking about all of the white blooms that covered the bush and all the delicious nectar inside. I wanted all of it.
So later, I went to the garage and found a small blue plastic bucket. I walked back over to the bush, and I picked all the flowers. Every single one of them. Then, I hid the bucket in the garage so no one else could eat the flowers.
The next day, I snuck out to the garage and picked up a flower, but when I drank its nectar, it tasted terrible. Separated from its source, it had turned bitter and disgusting. I looked down at the blue bucket and saw that all of the flowers had wilted and lost what just one day earlier they'd offered so readily.
If I had just let them be, they would have still been delicious, but instead, I got greedy. I tried to trap them.
Ugh, yes, that's terrible, my husband agreed before unpausing the show. There—on the TV—we finished watching as a man poured and painted chocolate, molding it in the shape of golden honeysuckle petals. Moments later, when he was announced the winner, I turned to my husband, Does this mean I should tell the honeysuckle story?!
I think so!
