After retiring from her teaching career, Agatha harbored a deep love for plants. While her husband Martin was away at work, Agatha stayed alone with their cat and dogs. She decided to utilize her free time to do something worthwhile and opted for gardening.

Day by day, the front yard of her house was filled with several colorful plants. People who passed by Agatha’s villa envied her garden’s foliage, ferns, and blooms.

Agatha treated her garden dearly, and she always wanted something new and unseen. She always felt her garden was her symbol of pride and wanted to add a gorgeous rarity to it. So, when she came across rare rose bushes on sale online, she couldn’t resist them…

“Hello ma’am, we’re calling from…yeah, you’re right!” a delivery man spoke. “Sure, we’ll deliver it within the next couple of hours.”

Agatha was excited and bubbled with emotions as she eagerly waited to see the lovely and rare rose bushes she’d ordered online. The plants weren’t easy to find, and Agatha had been looking for roses of import quality for a long time.

She spotted a police officer on the street and rushed to him. “What is it, officer?” she anxiously asked him.

She was preparing a bed outside for her rose shrubs when a delivery van honked past her.

“Oh my goodness…finally!” she exclaimed as she raced to the truck.

The delivery man unloaded Agatha’s rose bushes and her eyes beamed with excitement as she counted the plants. She hurriedly signed the receipt and rushed to the garage to gather the tools.

She spent a lot of time planting the rose bushes in the bed, fertilizing and watering them, and ensuring they were visible across the neighborhood.

“How adorable!” she sighed and took several selfies with the roses in the backdrop. She couldn’t stop admiring the plants and felt proud of her beautiful garden.

That evening, Agatha was making tea when she heard loud knocks on the door. She thought it was Martin, but her neighbor Abby was standing on the doorstep, staring at the roses.

“Yes, how may I help you?” Agatha asked Abby, sounding suspicious. Although she wanted her neighbors to envy her rare rose collection, she didn’t like the look on Abby’s eyes.

“I would like to know where you got these beautiful roses!” Abby asked Agatha.

Agatha was happy and proud. She toured Abby across the rose garden and explained each shrub as if they were antiques in a museum. “And this one, it’s from Bulgaria…and the one here is from Portland,” she bragged.

Abby was awed by the sweet fragrance and mesmerizing beauty spread around Agatha’s garden. Then she asked Agatha to share the seller’s contact details with her. “I’d love to have them in my garden too!” she exclaimed.

But Agatha wasn’t willing to share the details. She turned down Abby’s request and said she wanted her garden to be unique. Abby was shocked by what Agatha said and left without arguing. But the next morning, Agatha was furious when she saw her garden…

“What on earth has happened to my roses???” Agatha cried after seeing her dried-up rose plants that were still blooming with life the night before.

The lifeless roses were scattered on the lawn. The bright red, pink, and orange petals were burnt and brown. Agatha was furious as she recalled Abby’s request the previous day and suspected her of poisoning her beloved roses.

“You inglorious monster…how dare you destroy my roses???” Agatha yelled. She’d already fixed that Abby had destroyed her garden out of spite. She was boiling with rage as she banged on Abby’s door.

Moments later, Abby opened the door and was shocked to see Agatha standing on the porch.

“HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO MY ROSES?” Agatha yelled at her. “You better explain, or I’m calling the cops!”

Abby turned pale because she didn’t understand what Agatha was talking about until Agatha showed her the burned roses from afar and demanded an explanation.

“I-I didn’t do it. Please believe me…I didn’t do it,” Abby begged Agatha. “Why would I destroy something that I love?”

But Agatha was furious and unmoved. She accused Abby of destroying her garden and threatened her. She called her names and wouldn’t stop screaming.

“DON’T YOU DARE COME NEAR MY HOUSE OR MY GARDEN AGAIN…DO YOU GET IT???” she shouted at Abby and left.

Agatha spent the whole night searching for the same rose bushes online. Sadly, they were out of stock. Martin comforted her and promised to get her new rose plants.

After that, she calmed down and slept off, only to wake up to loud ambulance sirens the next morning. She found an ambulance leaving her yard after Abby was moved in on a stretcher. She was shocked and ran outside to find out. Then she spotted a police officer on the street and rushed to him…

“What is it, officer?” she anxiously asked him.

The cop informed her that the woman being rushed to the hospital was unconscious outside her garden after planting rose bushes on the bed. Agatha couldn’t believe her eyes.

Moments later, specialists flocked outside Agatha’s garden and examined the place. They eventually figured out that a gas pipe underneath the rose bed had burst a few days back. Agatha now realized why her roses burned.

“The gas made her unconscious…Luckily, she was found by the paperboy,” the officer explained.

Agatha felt guilty for accusing poor Abby of poisoning her roses when the underground gas leakage destroyed them. She was also speechless when she realized Abby had walked the extra mile to prove she was innocent by replacing new rose bushes in her garden.

That afternoon, Agatha went to visit Abby in the hospital. She was nervous and wondered if Abby would welcome her…

“Hey!” Agatha greeted as she entered Abby’s ward. “I hope you’re doing well now.”

Abby smiled at Agatha and waved at her. Agatha couldn’t believe her eyes because she thought Abby would ask her to get out. She placed a large bouquet of red roses on the table and apologized to Abby.

“I didn’t mean it, and I’m so sorry, Abby,” she said. “Maybe we could have one big gorgeous garden together since you’re on the next block!”

When Abby thought it was a fantastic idea and agreed, Agatha was pleased and left Abby’s ward smiling. But before leaving, she left Abby a note with the details of the online seller who sold the gorgeous rose bushes.

What can we learn from this story?

• Don’t blame anyone without verifying facts. When Agatha saw her poisoned roses, she concluded that Abby had destroyed them. However, she later realized she was wrong after it was discovered that the gas leakage beneath her rose garden ruined her plants.
• Look for ways to apologize instead of just words. Apart from apologizing to Abby, Agatha surprised her by sharing the seller’s contact details so that Abby could have gorgeous roses too. She also invited Abby to garden with her.

If you liked reading this story, here’s one about how a boy who was mocked for carrying his camera all the time uses it to save his neighborhood.

This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Please share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you want to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.