The Parable of the Starving Man and the Striped Flower[BLACK BOOK]

The Meadow bloomed under the Summer Sun, a field of life and meaning. Each blossom was unique in its own right, despite belonging to one species. The Meadow was rich in beauty and poor in shame. Every flower shared the Sun equally, content to abide silently and count their own petals. Eventually the season for pollination came and the flowers would spread their seeds. New flowers would rise, each more beautiful than the last.

That is, until the Striped Rose was born. It was not like the other flowers in the slightest. While the other flowers were content to forget their progenitor, all the Striped Rose could do was simmer in resentment. It hated the other flowers, and the flower it originated from it scorned the most.

"How can I be admired among all these other flowers? I am just one of the many. If I am to be glorified, they must be destroyed."

The Striped Rose's first solution was to grow sharp thorns that could pierce other flowers, but this approach failed utterly. The other flowers simply floated around the thorns.

Outraged at its failure, the Striped Rose began a much more drastic plan. Its orange and black petals grew thick and leathery. The tips of the petals were covered with fangs. The size of the Striped Rose grew until its head was leaning towards the ground.

The blossom bursted open and revealed a horrifying man. Not a hair was found on his lanky body, and he was emaciated to the point that he looked as if skin had been draped over a skeleton. His body was striped like a tiger, and in place of teeth he had iron fangs.

The starving man immediately began eating the only food he could find in the Meadow: Flowers. Handful by handful was flung into his mouth in a futile attempt to satisfy the hunger, each one thrown into stomach acid that dissolves the flowers into nothingness.

It is only a matter of time before his appetite draws him to your favorite starry blossom.