In a small town in Denmark, there lived a lovely little girl named Little Ida. Little Ida had her own small garden, which was full of all kinds of beautiful flowers. Every day, Little Ida would take good care of these flowers, watering them, fertilizing them, and getting rid of the pests.
One morning, Little Ida came to the garden as usual, but found that some of her favorite flowers were looking a bit listless. Little Ida was very worried. She gently stroked the petals and asked softly if they were unwell. Suddenly, she heard a very faint voice saying, "Little Ida, we attended a grand ball last night, so we are a little tired now." Little Ida looked around in surprise and found that it was a pink rose that was talking.
Little Ida's eyes widened as she listened curiously to the flowers' story. They said that every night, when Little Ida was asleep, they would jump down from their stems and hold a grand ball in the middle of the garden. The marigolds would form a band and play wonderful music with their stamens; the lilies would dance gracefully, their white petals like beautiful dancing skirts; and the tulips would be enthusiastic audiences, cheering and clapping on the sidelines.
The flowers invited Little Ida to join their ball as well. Little Ida was extremely happy. She held hands with the flowers and danced heartily in the garden. Her little feet skipped nimbly, like a lively fawn. The whole garden was filled with laughter, and the stars twinkled in the sky as if adding luster to their ball.
However, happy times are always short - lived. Soon, the eastern sky began to turn white, and dawn was approaching. The flowers knew that they had to return to their stems. Little Ida was a little reluctant, but she knew that the flowers needed to rest. The flowers slowly returned to their places and stood straight again, as if nothing had happened.
Since then, every night before going to bed, Little Ida would look forward to the flowers' ball. She knew that in this little garden, countless wonderful things were happening.
