Karthik was lost in thoughts when Rosie woke up screaming in pain. Panicked he ran towards her and hugged her partly patting her head. She was whimpering in a half-sleep state.

"Don't leave me" She whimpered.

"Yes I won't, Rosie," He said to her gently as if talking to a child. He tied her hair in a ponytail and placed her head back on the pillow gently. She kept whimpering in her sleep as Karthik urged her to sleep by caressing her forehead.

"Please-" She begged tears falling from eyes.

"Sid don't leave me" She whispered tears leaking from her eyes.

"Gibe me a chance"

"I will become more like her"

"Please I love you"

"I am waiting for you" She croaked and then went back to her dream.

~~DREAM~~

I was sitting in a beautiful garden with butterflies surrounding me. As I giggled along with a cute three-year-old. He tugged my gown slightly. Smiling I bent down to his height. Retrieving a black rose from behind his back he presented it to me.

"My baby is so charming," I said to the kid and accepted the rose from him.

"Mom you know why I gifted a black rose to you?" The three-year-old kid asked me. I shook my head and hinted at him to continue with my eyes. His grey jewel-like eyes shined brightly as he connected his cheek with mine and spoke in a baby voice.

"I will tell you a poem,

Roses bloomed as the swords clashed,
Tears dropped as the warriors lashed,
There stood a red rose shinning alone,
Its eyes took in the beauty of the stone,
For which lovers wept their tears mixed with the rain,
On the rose at that moment appeared a stain,

Red blood shined on the Rose like dewdrops,
The rose absorbed all the blood and misery,
It took away the darkness and the stars shined again,
But there forever remained a black stain,
The black rose stood out among the red,
And then one day its root was plucked out and the darkness left"

His grey eyes were deep with emotions and I could see the maturity in his eyes. The three-year-old kid hugged me and whispered in my ears.

"The black rose is a symbol of sacrifice made by lovers" I felt my eyes leaking and the kid hugged me tighter.

"When did you become this mature?" I asked him.

"You know mom the black rose grew up on its own. Merchants were attracted by it, it was pretty but different from the red ones. It was the unwanted rose. The rose that people often observed to see if it could absorb their misery away and it always did. Its colour turned darker each time as it absorbed the darkness around itself. The red roses became more breathtaking as the black rose stood next to it. It was unwanted so they disposed of it. But the roses that grown there slowly shed their petals as the darkness was too overwhelming for them. They died after the unwanted rose was plucked out carrying its life force away" He broke from the hug and cradled my face in his tiny hands.

"I am unwanted like you are. We are the unwanted roses. We have our life force" He said to me his tone making my toes curl and goosebumps rise on my neck.

"Who are you?" I asked the kid.

"I am You, and you are me. We are the same mother" He said to me grinning widely.

"Then why do you look like me and Sid?" I asked him backing away as I felt his ominous energy.

"I am a fragment of your imagination," He said to me and slowly he started disappearing. I ran after his shadow which was walking away and then I saw him hide behind a tree.

"Princess" I heard Sid's voice calling out to me. A smile rose on my lips as I saw him standing in the lounge looking at me. I ran towards him and enveloped him in my arms.

"I love you" I whispered lightly. I felt his chest rumble and he laughed out loud. I untangled myself from him and frowned as he continued laughing at me.

"You are so " haha " stupid," He said to me wiping tears from his eyes as he continued laughing at me. I walked closer to him and tried to shake him but a voice stopped me.

"Unhand my lover. Now" I heard a sweet honey voice turning my head I saw a beautiful fairy walking towards me, her crystal green eyes glaring daggers at me as her light green wings fluttered with her every moment. I was enraptured by this beauty. The goddess of beauty. She walked towards us with determination and pushed me off him. I was still in a daze as I saw her caressing his jaw while I lay beneath them. In the puddle of dirt.

"You are truly a white lotus" She sneered at me as Sid laughed at her joke. I frowned at her not understanding her words.

"Lotus grows in the dirtiest water its root is although dirty but its appearance make people around them enchanted by it. It casts an illusion that it is purer than others but people fail to realise that the mud around it is hollow. It cannot hold itself for long without contaminating its surroundings. You are a white lotus" She explained to me which was confusing as the three-year-old kid called me black rose just a few moments ago.

What am I?

A black rose or white lotus?

***

So this is chapter 15. I hope you like it.

What do you think about the three-year-old kid?

What do you think about Karthik?

What are your thoughts about the story so far?

Do you think Rosie is a black rose?

Vote. Comment and Share.

AND I LOVE YOU GUYS ♥️💞