Flash Fiction: Protection

[meridian_rose]

Once upon a time there was a small park. It had a lovely patch of green grass. People used to picnic on it, dogs would run along it, children would play on it. The grass was accessible and regularly weeded and mowed.

Then the park manager decided the grass needed to be protected. He put up a sign saying "please avoid the grass" and a few people did, but many found the grassy field the only reason to go to the park.

So the park manager put up a giant fence so no-one could get onto the grass, nor could it be mowed. He put up signs that said "£100 fine if you go near the grass" and was pleased with himself for putting such protection in place.

A few people still walked through the park but no-one stayed long. Many stopped coming at all. The grass soon became overgrown and filled with weeds.

In trying to protect the grass, the manager had made the park a miserable place to visit and ultimately destroyed the thing he was trying to save.

If he'd listened to the people who used the park, he might have made a better choice.