Grandma’s Garden

Nini went to visit her grandma at the edge of the Meadow. Grandma had a little garden and a bag of seeds. “Today we’re going to plant sunflower seeds,” she said.

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Nini dug little holes in the soil. Grandma dropped one seed into each. Then they covered them up together and watered them carefully. “And now what?” asked Nini. “Now we wait,” said Grandma.

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The next day, Nini ran out to the garden. Nothing. Just brown soil. “Grandma, nothing’s growing!” “It needs a little patience,” said Grandma. “Let’s count the days. This is day one.” Nini touched one dot on her back.

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Day two, day three, day four, day five. Every morning Nini looked, and every morning she saw only soil. Each day she touched another dot. “Grandma, I’ve run out of dots, and there’s still nothing!” she said sadly.

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“Then let’s count my dots,” said Grandma, showing Nini her back. “I’ve got seven!” Then she said softly, “Down in the soil, the seed is busy, even though we can’t see it. It’s drinking water and getting ready to wake up.”

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On day six, Nini watered the seeds and sang them a song. On day seven, she ran out to the garden and stopped in surprise. Poking out of the soil was a tiny green sprout, with two leaves like two little hands!

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“Grandma! Grandma! It’s woken up!” cried Nini. Grandma came and sat down beside her. One by one, the other seeds sprouted too. Nini gave Grandma a big hug. Her heart was full of joy.

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By summer, the sunflowers had grown taller than Grandma, taller than any grass in the Meadow. Nini looked up at them and laughed. “Now I know,” she said. “Even when we can’t see anything, something is growing. You just need a little patience!”

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