A Mother's Warning (short story)
One summer’s day my children (5 & 7)  went fishing with me by a fast moving river.
On the banks grew tall grass, and on the rivers edge were dainty blue flowers
As we stood fishing my daughter came up to me holding a small bunch of flowers.
She asked, what kind of flowers are these?
My son also wanted to know.
I recognized that the flowers were Forget-me-not.
She replied, why are they called Forget-me-not.
So, I told them this story;
There was once a brave and noble knight in shining armor, that loved, very much, a beautiful maiden, he had to go away to war to fight to save the maiden, and her family who lived in a castle.
The knight asked her what do you want me to give you before I go to war.
She said, those pretty blue flowers that grow by the river’s edge.
So the knight said, I will get them for you, my love.
The knight walked to the river’s edge to pick the pretty blue flowers.
He slipped into the river while holding the flowers he picked.
His armor filled with water.
He began to sink deeper and deeper in to the water, while he was sinking, he called out Forget me not, and then he drowned.
The last thing the maiden saw of him was his hand held up holding the flowers.
After hearing this story, my daughter replied, it’s so sad.
I said it is, and I told them to look closely at the petals shaped like little blue tears.
While they were looking deep into the flowers, I said, don’t ever get to close to the water because you could fall in and drown, even the strong knight could not escape being killed by the water. Those petals are his tears, for losing his love and life. Remember the brave and noble knight, and never get to close to the river. Then with a fading echoing voice, I said, forget -me- got, forget- me- not....
I told my children this story to scare them away from the river’s edge so they wouldn’t fall into the water, and drown.
It worked! They never stood or played too close to the river’s edge again.