“The Littlest Bonsai” by Bob
This Take Ten to Write story was submitted by Bob. Happy reading!
Prompt: Write a story titled “The Littlest Bonsai”.
The year was 1868. Emperor Meiji had just moved into his new palace, and said, “I wish to have the greatest display of bonsai within the walls of this Imperial Palace’s Grand Hallway that would show I am truly the greatest Emperor having graced The Land of the Rising Sun!”
All the great master bonsai cultivators came from across the great land with their most prized dwarf trees. There were Alders, Boxwoods, Cypress, Maples; every type of tree one could think of! They were all quite small and delicate, some as old as time itself.
Emperor Meiji looked upon the vast mini-forest of trees in the Grand Hall, and said, “What is this? A Grand Hall deserves grand-looking bonsais! I wish to have bonsais fit for an Emperor! I wish a spectacular sight of such unique trees to show the world that Japan is the mightiest land of all!”
Confused, the humbled master cultivators went back home, only to return with bonsai trees much larger than the previous ones. They felt that the greatest Emperor of all should have a bonsai that stood above the others. Their trees would be larger than the norm, to represent an Emperor who’s greatness and power was above all others.
One by one, the great masters brought their bonsais into the Great Hall and fought to place them in the center, believing that only their trees deserved to be central to all others, having a ring of the lesser trees surrounding their prized beauties.
Finally, a small boy walked into the Grand Hallway. With him, a lonely little tree… the littlest bonsai anyone had ever seen. It wasn’t the prettiest of trees, and was only a common fig tree. He walked by all the bickering masters, and noticed a small beam of light streaking through the window from the eastern sunrise, which deflected off a great marble pillar and landed on a stone tile next to the Emperor’s throne. He placed his tree there. The others took notice and laughed at the littlest bonsai.
Emperor Meiji walked up to the boy and asked why he had brought such a little tree, when all the other masters had brought spectacularly grand trees. The boy replied “Although humble in appearance, it will be strong and mighty in the rising sun. Isn’t this representative of your majesty?” Emperor Meiji was pleased with this response, and he officially made the boy the Royal Bonsai Cultivator – all due to bringing him the littlest bonsai.
"The Littlest Bonsai"
