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Once, there was a 10-year old boy named Anthony. He was great at practically everything he did, scoring A's on all his assignments. He almost never did anything disrespectful or unkind, and was agreeable toward everyone. He was loved by nearly everyone who met him. And he had never known any real hardship as long as he had been alive.
One day, Anthony was paying close attention in class as usual, when the boy next to him leaned over toward him with a cruel smile on his face. This was a kid who regularly bullied others and lied constantly, so Anthony usually tried his best to stay away from him. But, when sitting next to him in class, there was really nothing he could do.
The boy got uncomfortably close. Anthony was concerned, because while this kid was normally always angry and somewhat violent, today he shifted slowly, grinning instead of frowning.
Then the bully whispered into his ear, "Say 'purple daisies.'"
"What?" Anthony responded quietly. The boy stared at him in silence. "What does that mean? And...why would you want me to do that?" The bully started to look agitated. "Look, I can say it later," continued Anthony, "but we're in the middle of class right now, and I-"
"Say 'purple daisies.'"
Anthony knew that this kid meant business, so he sat up as straight as he could, took a deep breath, and audibly, but not loudly, said the strange words: "Purple daisies."
The teacher suddenly stopped talking. She stared at Anthony with an indescribable expression, one that he had never seen before. Then, out of nowhere, the teacher picked her name plate up from her desk and hurled it Anthony, who resonably flinched to avoid being whacked in the face.
"ANTHONY!" she shrieked. "TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE, NOW!!!"
Anthony awkwardly exited the room, confused and scared. What on earth could "purple daisies" mean? And how could it warrant such a violent reaction from a teacher who was typically so mild-mannered?
When Anthony entered through the door into the office, the principal was caught off guard to see such a prized student before him. "Anthony, what brings you to my office? I rarely see you here!" he exclaimed.
"Well, my teacher got mad at me and sent me to you, but-" "Wait, wait," interrupted the principal. "She got mad at you? For what? You've been nothing but a wonderful student as long as you've attended this school! Surely there's been an error."
"Look," he continued, "whatever it is that brings you here, I'm sure that it isn't a big issue. I know your character, Anthony. You're a nice kid. The kind of person that always looks out for others. I'm sure your teacher just misinterpreted something.
Anthony was hesitant to reply. "Can you promise not to get mad at me?" he asked. "Not that you would, it's just-" "Whatever it is," the principal said, interrupting him again, "I can handle it."
Anthony sighed. "Well, I said 'purple daisies,' and-"
The principal's eyes went bloodshot. "YOUNG MAN!" he yelled, pulling a document out from his filing cabinet and signing it, "YOU'RE PERMANENTLY EXPELLED FROM THIS SCHOOL. GET OUT NOW!"
Anthony rushed out of the office and ran all the way back home, stopping to catch his breath every now and then. He only had more questions. Was this something that everybody but him was somehow in on? Was it an elaborate prank? Either way, he made up his mind to only say the two fateful words if it was absolutely necessary.
When he arrived at his house, it was dimly lit, and his mother was sitting on the couch flipping through the TV. "How was school, honey?" she asked innocently. Anthony sighed deeply. "What's wrong?" his mom asked. "Well, something happened at school today," he began. "I don't know why, but, I got expelled."
"Oh no!" his mom exclaimed. "This has to be some sort of mistake!" "It's not," Anthony continued. "There's something I said that really bothered them, and I don't know why." His mom nodded. "If I tell you what I said," he explained, "will you please promise to not get mad at me?" "Dad and I love you so much," said Anthony's mom. "We'll forgive you, no matter how bad it was."
Anthony sighed. "I said 'purple daisies.'"
His mother gasped. "YOU-YOU-YOU..." she said trembling, choking back tears. All of a sudden, she broke out sobbing, and ran back into her bedroom, locking the door behind her.
Suddenly, Anthony was all alone. The darkness of the room at night, the bizarre behavior of his mom, and the loneliness that began to creep over him caused him to feel more depressed than he ever had felt before.
Then his dad came home. "Son, how's it going?" he asked as entered through the front door. His son had no response to give. "Did something happen at school, or-" "I got expelled," interjected Anthony. "What?" exclaimed his father. "How can that be?" "It was something I said," replied Anthony.
At this point, Anthony expected that whoever he uttered the words 'purple daisies' to would respond in the same way. "Dad," said Anthony, "Will you forgive me for what I said?" "Look," said his father, "whatever you said, Mom and I will forgive you. Even if it really was bad." Anthony sighed. "Dad, what I said was 'purple daisies.'"
His father immediately blew up at him. "SON, I ORDER YOU TO LEAVE THIS HOUSE!" he yelled. "RIGHT NOW!"
Anthony fell asleep that night out in the streets, once again scared and confused, this time more than ever. How could his parents disown him over two harmless little words? There had to be an answer. And Anthony was determined to find it. He spent the next three years roaming the streets of the city, attempting to minimize human contact for fear that he would set somebody off again, and things would get even worse.
One day, when Anthony was 13, a cop saw him wandering the streets and approached him. "Ya think you can just loiter around here with no consequences, kid?" the cop asserted gruffly. "Come with me."
"Wait!" cried Anthony. "I'm only here because my parents disowned me. I've got nowhere to go and I just feel lost." "Well, that don't sound like too good a situation," admitted the cop. "Maybe we can get things sorted out. Why'd they kick you out in the first place?"
It had been years since Anthony had spoken the words out loud, but they still lingered in the back of his head every day. He said reluctantly, "Well, all I said was 'purple daisies,' and-"
Immediately, he was handcuffed and dragged into a police car. "YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!" shouted the cop. "No WONDER THEY KICKED YOU OUT!"
Before he knew it, Anthony found himself being accused in a court case. "What is the defendant being prosecuted for?" the judge asked. "I mean, was a mistake made? This seems just like a random kid, not someone who committed a federal offense." "Sir," Anthony spoke, sweating, "I said 'purple daisies.'"
The judge slammed his gavel so hard that it echoed throughout the courthouse. "60 YEARS, NO PAROLE, IMPRISON HIM IMMEDIATELY!"
With that, Anthony's fate was unfortunately sealed. He spent the next sixty years languishing in prison, yearning to break free.
When the day finally came, Anthony was seventy-three years old, and happy to be given new hope. He exited the prison to a world very different from the one he left, but he kept an open mind to all the new things he would discover.
The first place he went to was a homeless shelter. He was admitted in easily, and took a seat in the corner. He was busy contemplating his life when another old man, who looked strangely familiar, sat beside him.
"What brings you here?" inquired the man warmly. "I was in jail for sixty years," explained Anthony. "I was only just released." The other old man began to stroke his beard. "Hey," he said, "may I ask what you were in for?"
Anthony chuckled. "You wouldn't believe it," he stated, tensing up. "Well, I'm sure I'll understand, whatever it is," the other man promised. Anthony sighed sadly. "I said 'purple daisies.'"
He braced for the worst, but to his surprise, the other man stated calmly, "Yep. That'll do it." Anthony looked at him, baffled. "What-what do you mean 'that'll do it?!'" he exclaimed. The other man sighed. "I've heard of this type of thing before, but I'm not an expert," he said softly. "But I know someone who is."
"WHO?!" cried Anthony desperately. "I NEED to know what the meaning of this phrase is. It's literally the thing that ruined my life." "Well, I can tell you where to go," began the other man. "If you cross the street, there's a psychiatrist in one of the buildings over there. He's my friend. I'm pretty sure he's told me about things just like this. He might just have the key to solving your mystery."
Tears began to well up in Anthony's eyes. "Thank you," he cried. "You don't know how much this means to me." For the first time in sixty-three years, Anthony had real hope and joy in his life again. This feeling was akin to the one a five-year-old has opening presents on Christmas morning.
Eager to finally learn the secret at play behind his whole life, he rushed out of the shelter, and began to run across the street to meet the psychiatrist.
Unfortunately, as he was crossing, a car came hurtling toward him at 40 mph, hit him, and killed him instantly.
Look both ways before you cross the road.
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