SALOME AND THE WATER DRYAD

SALOME AND THE WATER DRYAD

 

Salome always thought she was the prettiest. She was vain and would constantly look in the mirror.

One day when she was near a garden pond. She saw her reflection, and for a moment, she thought she was a water dryad. Suddenly, she felt her hands grow branches all around her. Little sparrows twittered under her boughs, pigeons cooed at each other. At the bottom near the trunk of Salome the tree dryad, little swans, swam about. Leaves fell to the pond and drifted away like little sailing boats. A speckled little toad jumped as high, as to reach her bosom, and caught an insect, then vanished. Pretty little flowers grew everywhere around her.

People passed by, but nobody seemed to notice her, they only looked at the beautiful nature that surrounded her. Her arms grew heavy and weary, yet the spell did not seem to be undone. At last, the water dryad showed her reflection in the pool of water. She looked exactly like Salome, and her name

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too was Salome the water Dryad. She told Salome, that a spell was cast on her many many years ago, by a little witch, who meant her good. The water dryad never liked her toys or the pony or little children that wished to be her friends. She would only look into the shallow pond, and gaze away at her beauty. So a witch cast upon her a spell, to be turned into a water tree dryad. The spell would only be undone, centuries after she would realize her mistake.

The water dryad told Salome that she had learned her mistake a long time ago, but was waiting for Salome since ages to come to her senses. And instead of being a vain person, told her to admire for once the beauty around her. Salome at last realized how vain she had been, and was turned back into a human. For once, she saw the beauty around her. Whenever she looked into the mirror, she got reminded of the little water dryad. She was no longer a vain little girl. And her friends called Salome, the Spirit of the tree!