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# Chrysanthemum: A Tale of Friendship and Nature for Young and Old
- URL: https://www.vasopapa.com/chrysanthemum-a-tale-of-friendship-and-nature-for-young-and-old/
- Published: 2026-10-21T06:48:40.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T06:51:13.000Z
- Author: Vaso Papadopoulou
- Tags: Short Stories, childhood, children, creative writing,, creativity,, fiction,, happiness,, hero,, literature, stories,, story,, storytelling,, values,, writer,, writing,, friend,, dog,, friendship,, nature,, recycling,

Manos lay on his bed, sobbing. His tears ran like a river, rolling down his warm, red cheeks and wetting his pillow. He felt desperate and alone without his best friend, Rouki. He had been crying nonstop for two hours and now felt very tired. His eyelids grew heavy, and he tried to sleep, squeezing his eyes shut in the hope that a quick, deep sleep would take him.

Just as he was about to drift off, he began to hear: “Psst, psst, Mano. Mano, can you hear me?”

Believing he was already asleep, Manos thought the voice was part of his dream. But the voice wouldn’t quiet down and kept going: “Mano, psst, wake up!” Suddenly, he felt someone poking at him. Startled, he opened his eyes and saw a bright red balloon next to his pillow. But it was no ordinary balloon. This balloon had short legs and arms, eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears, and even teeth, just like a person. Only hair was missing. Frightened, Manos sat up in bed, trying not to scream so he wouldn’t wake his parents. It was already past midnight, and they were asleep. Hesitantly, Manos asked the balloon:

“Who are you? What are you?”

“What do I look like to you? I’m a balloon!”

“But balloons don’t have legs, arms, or eyes, and they don’t talk. I’ve never seen a balloon like this.”

“Oh, I’ve seen lots of balloons like me.”

“And where are they?”

“We all live together in a village.”

“Which village? What’s it called?”

“The village is called Chrysanthemum. Why are you crying, Mano? What happened to you?”

“I’ve lost my best friend, my dog Rouki.”

“Aha, I see. Can you describe your friend to me?”

“Well, he’s a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. He has short legs, red fur with white markings, upright ears, green eyes, and a fox-like face.”

“And where did you lose him?”

“He disappeared three days ago while we were playing together in The Bronze Garden Park. He went to fetch the ball I had thrown behind a bush, and he never came back.”

“But wait a moment. How do you know my name?” Manos asked the balloon curiously.

“In my village, we know a lot about you humans. Exactly what you’ll learn later. By the way, my name is Max,” the balloon said, finally introducing himself and holding out his hand to Manos.

Manos hesitantly shook his hand and kept looking at him carefully. For several seconds, an awkward silence hung in the air. Then Max began, “Mano, I can help you find Rouki.”

“But how? You’re just a balloon!”

“Here we go again with ‘balloon’!” Max sighed. “We balloons can do many things. If you want to find your friend, you must come with me now.”

Manos didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, he was too young, only 8, to leave the house alone at that hour. On the other hand, he loved Rouki very much, missed him terribly, and, of course, feared what his parents would do if they found out he was gone.

While Manos thought, Max impatiently tapped his foot on the floor. After much thought, Manos said: “I’ll come! But on one condition: I’ll be back tomorrow morning before my parents wake up, that is, before 7:30.”

Max agreed, and he and Manos slowly descended the stairs so Manos’s parents wouldn’t hear them. Manos put on his shoes and didn’t forget his flashlight, since he didn’t know what might happen that night. He grabbed the house keys, took a deep breath, and unlocked the door.

In the heart of summer, the night was warm, and the streets were empty. No one or nothing was out except Manos and Max. Complete quiet reigned, and all that could be heard were the cicadas’ characteristic chirping and the fluttering of insects. Manos felt strange, as if he were the only person in the world. At the same time, he felt a fear that wouldn’t fade, not even for a moment. He expected, at any second, that someone from the deep dark would jump out in front of him and hurt him.

Max walked ahead, and Manos followed, looking left and right. It was the first time he had gone out alone at such an hour, with a creature that looked like a balloon on top of that. If his friends found out, they would call him crazy, but Rouki was his best friend, and he loved him very much. He had to seize every opportunity to find Rouki. That evening and for three days, Manos searched everywhere for him, anxious, with his parents, relatives, and friends, but found nothing.

While Manos was lost in thought, Max kept walking ahead, growing impatient and irritated as Manos lagged behind, and he finally burst out:

“What’s going on, Manos? If we keep this pace, we’ll never reach our destination.”

“But where are we going? You haven’t told me anything!” Manos exclaimed, irritated.

“You’ll find out soon.”

Manos kept walking two or three steps behind Max because he didn’t know him well yet and didn’t even know where they were going. He feared it might be a trap. He racked his brain, trying to guess where Max was taking him, but nothing came to mind. As soon as they turned left onto the next street, he began to suspect. In the distance, the Bronze Garden came into view. When they finally reached the park entrance, Max exclaimed, “Here we are!”

It was the first time Manos had come to the park at night. It looked nothing like the image he had known until now. The park's lighting was minimal, and darkness prevailed. The trees looked even bigger, and the bushes looked like large, shapeless figures scattered throughout the park. In the distance, he heard the fountain's murmur and frogs croaking as they hopped carefree from the grass toward the fountain to cool off. At this hour, no one was around, and there were no dogs or cats. The grass smelled sweet in the cool night air, and Manos took a deep breath, soaking up the wonderful scent that reminded him of a freshly mown lawn. He felt the park trying to revive itself after an exhausting day of noise, litter, and dirty air.

“Let’s keep going!” said Max, and Manos returned from his brief scenting jaunt and followed him. They crossed the park and stopped at a row of densely planted bushes.

“Well, we’ve arrived.”

“What is this place?” asked Manos.

“You’ll see, come on.”

Manos watched Max walk along the bushes and stop at a gap.

“Follow me,” he ordered Manos and disappeared through the gap.

Hesitant and frightened, Manos followed him and was astonished. Behind the bushes stood a wall, and in front of it lay a large black stone. Manos watched as Max touched the stone with his palm. The moment he touched its surface, a bright flash erupted. Manos quickly covered his eyes, unable to bear the blinding light.

When the flash vanished and Manos could open his eyes again, he stood frozen, mouth agape. A large hole had appeared in the wall, and beyond it he could make out a village.

“Come on, let’s go!” Manos faintly heard Max say.

“I’m scared! I can’t!”

Trying to calm him, Max held out his hand and said, “Don’t be afraid; nothing bad will happen to you.”

Manos took it, and he and Max passed through the hole hand in hand; as soon as their feet touched the ground on the other side, the hole quickly closed.

Manos was amazed at what he saw. Before him stretched a beautiful little village, like those described in fairy tales.

For the first time, he saw such lush vegetation: all kinds of trees, plants, and flowers in every color one could imagine.

The sun shone, and its rays gently kissed his face. Only a few small clouds hung scattered across the sky, and the air was so clean he could feel it in his nostrils with every breath. The houses were round huts with thatched roofs. Each hut had a door and a large window. The only thing that set them apart was their color. Each hut was a different color: red, blue, yellow, white, or purple.

“Welcome to Chrysanthemum!” Max shouted cheerfully, arms spread wide and a broad smile. “You should know that here in Chrysanthemum, we always have sunshine. It never gets dark.”

Manos came out of the trance he had fallen into because of the beauty spread before him, and asked: “It never gets dark? Then how do you go to sleep?”

“When we feel tired and sleepy, we lie down to sleep. Now come on, let’s go meet the others.”

“What others?” asked Manos.

“What? Do you think I live here alone?”

Before them stretched a wide gravel road, and small paths led to huts on either side. The road was also lined with beautiful round flowers that looked like balloons or balls. Each balloon or ball was a different color, like the huts: yellow, purple, orange, white, red, fuchsia, pink.

Following Max, Manos exclaimed in admiration: “What beautiful flowers! What are they called?”

“Chrysanthemums. ‘Chrys’ means gold and ‘anthemum’ means flower. This flower symbolizes optimism and joy. Normally it blooms from September to the end of October, but in our village, it blooms all year round and passes all this positive energy on to us,” Max explained.

They kept walking, and Manos spotted a strange flower in front of a hut and moved closer. Max noticed Manos’s interest, followed him, and began to explain: “This flower is called Strelitzia, the bird of paradise. Besides orange, it also comes in blue. As you can see, its bloom resembles a bird of paradise's beak, which is why it's called that. It originates in South Africa.”

“What a beautiful flower! I wish I had a Strelitzia in my room too,” said Manos sadly, and went on: “Why do the flowers and trees here in Chrysanthemum look prettier and have more intense, bright, colorful hues? In our city and parks, the vegetation isn’t as nice,” Manos observed.

“Here in Chrysanthemum, we take care of and love the environment, while you don’t respect it. Many times, I’ve secretly watched people from the wall and noticed that you throw your trash on the street and in the park, not in the bins, as you should. Do you see the three colored bins over there on the corner? Well, we separate our trash here. In the yellow bin, we throw all plastics, aluminum packaging, polystyrene, and metal lids. In the brown bin, we put organic waste, that is, waste from fruits, vegetables, the garden, and food leftovers. In the black bin, we throw all the other trash. The wonderful nature and clean environment of Chrysanthemum results from proper recycling. Also, instead of taking the bus, I see many cars driving around and polluting the air. Whereas here in Chrysanthemum, we use bicycles to get around.”

As Max explained this to Manos in detail, they heard someone approaching and singing in a funny way. Manos struggled not to laugh and put his hand to his mouth, while Max sighed: “He’s singing again!”

“Who is it?” Manos asked.

“It’s Phoebus, the village singer.”

Phoebus, carrying four black bags, heard Max and Manos and came over.

“Heeey! Who do we have here?” Phoebus asked Max.

“This is my friend Manos, and he lives in the city behind the wall.”

“I see. Nice to meet you, Manos,” said Phoebus, a green balloon rather than the red one like Max. He winked hello at Manos, since his hands were full, then asked, “Don’t you want to see the match?”

“What match?” Max wanted to know.

“Football. Today the Dragons are playing the Dinosaurs.”

“Of course, we’ll come if Manos wants to, too,” Max answered, glancing at Manos to see whether he really wanted to.

Manos nodded, since football was his favorite sport.

“Before you go, can you help me with the bags?” Phoebus asked.

“What exactly should we do?” asked Max. “What are you carrying in the bags?”

“Uhh, well, they caught me not recycling my trash properly, and now they’ve given me a punishment: to recycle these four bags of trash.”

“We’ll help you because it’s a chance for Manos to learn how to recycle,” Max answered.

“Can I do it?” Manos intervened. “Show me how to do the recycling right so I will learn to do it correctly and show my friends how to do it in the future.”

When they finished recycling, the three of them walked toward the stadium. As they reached the stadium, Manos stood with his mouth open. He saw balloons everywhere, like Max and Phoebus, in various colors. Some were taking part in the match, while others were fans cheering the players on from the edge of the field. The Dinosaurs team wore yellow jerseys with a black dinosaur print, and the Dragons wore black jerseys with a white dragon.

Manos saw such a fantastic sight for the first time in his life. If he described the scene to his friends, they would surely call him a liar.

The match was 0-0, but the tension was high because the Dragons had many chances to score. The Dinosaurs’ fans were silent; their team wasn’t playing well, and everything suggested they would lose. Just as a Dragons player was about to score, a Dinosaurs player suddenly stole the ball and ran with all his might, using every juggling trick he knew. Nobody could stop him, and just before the opposing team’s goal, he took a run-up with his right foot and struck the ball with all his strength.

“Gooooal! Gooooal!” shouted the Dinosaurs’ fans, celebrating with the players.

Amid the roar of celebration, Manos heard a bark he knew well. He turned toward the sound and saw Rouki running toward him. Joyful, Manos ran too, pulling him into his arms as fast as he could.

“I finally found you!” Manos cried, tenderly petting Rouki as Rouki licked his face and wagged his tail happily.

“That must be Rouki,” Manos heard Max say to Phoebus, who were now standing next to him.

“It is!” Manos answered with a smile.

“I told you you’d find him here,” said Max, pretending to be stern, and went on to explain: “The day Rouki got lost, he had followed me on my way back to Chrysanthemum without my noticing. But when I finally noticed him, I remembered you, who used to take him to the park to play. So, one day I followed you to find out where you live, and that’s how I found you. The rest you already know.”

“Thank you so much!” Manos thanked him warmly and hugged him.

“But now it’d be better for you to return home so your parents don’t realize you’re gone, because it will be dawn soon where you live,” Max reminded him.

Manos said goodbye to Phoebus, and Max accompanied him to the wall. He touched the black stone again, and the hole in the wall opened. Manos gave Max a tight hug and promised that, from now on, he would think about the environment, care for it, and do everything he could to protect it, together with his parents and friends. Then Manos went through the hole with his beloved dog friend.

Dawn was already breaking, and the two of them ran toward home. But this time Manos wasn’t afraid, since Rouki was beside him. Fortunately, his parents hadn’t woken up yet. He wanted so much to play with Rouki, but he was afraid the noise would wake them. So quietly, Manos slipped into his room and happily into bed. Rouki went to his spot, next to Manos’s pillow.

“Only one problem remains for me to solve now,” Manos thought aloud, “how to explain to my parents how Rouki was found.”

But his parents wouldn't wake for a few more hours, so he had time to sleep and let a good idea come to him. Who knows, perhaps even in a dream. So Manos slept peacefully next to his best friend, Rouki.

*©2026, Vasiliki Papadopoulou*