There's Magic Afoot

A True Story with Some Imagination for Adults and for Children

Once, there was a gardener,

Her daughter was very sick.

The gardener hurt on the inside for her.

They had both stopped laughing.

And everything looked hopeless.

Their giggles went away, and the gardener missed it.

She cried a lot and could not stop.

One day, the gardener went outside.

She went to her old garden, the one that needed the most work. 

She looked down, but nothing was growing.

The sun was strong that day, and she felt it on her shoulders.

She looked up and noticed some branches.

Why were there branches up high in her garden?

She put on her glasses and walked closer to the branches.

And there…there, as had never been before, were small, pink blossoms.

She followed the blossom to the branch,

That branch to a limb

That limb to a trunk

And that trunk to the ground.

A tree had grown.

How could this be?

This was a vegetable garden.

She had never and would never plant a tree in this garden.

But there it was, covered in tiny pink blossoms.

The gardener rushed inside to tell her daughter of this,

The girl was weak and pale but insisted on seeing this for herself.

There it was-a full, grown tree.

They each had so many questions, giggles, and absolute delight at this tree.

What they did not see was a little squirrel high up in the maple tree that had always been there.

Little Squirrel’s mother noticed Little One’s smile.

“What do you know about this Little One?” asked the mommy squirrel.

“Oh, Mommy, the girl, and the gardener looked so sad for so long, so I dug up a seed I had buried for us and planted it in their garden.”

“Every day, I have visited that seed and talked to it.”

“What did you say to it?” asked the mother squirrel.

“Oh, I just say stuff like, ‘Please grow little seed and make them happy.’”

“I talked to the sun and asked her to shine very hard in that spot.”

“I talked to the rain and asked her to water it just enough.”

“I talked to the snow and asked her to bury it like a blanket.”

“But Little Squirrel,” said the Mommy squirrel, “ this is a full-grown tree! “

“Yes, I know, Mommy, but you did not see that the gardener had cried one day in the garden, silent tears for her daughter, just wishing her to get well.”

“Little Squirrel, this is beautiful,” replied the Mommy, “ but it still doesn’t answer how the tree grew so big.”

“Oh, I forgot,” smiled Little One, “I also talked to the night and asked her to work her starry magic on the seed.  Mommy, the dark is good, and we need it.  Sometimes, we just forget that.”

“But not you, Little Squirrel.  You did not forget,” said Mommy Squirrel with pride.

“That’s because you told me, Mommy, that when I was afraid of the dark, that there is Magic Afoot when we sleep.  And that the night needs us to rest and to dream so that she can do her work.”

“Yes, Little Squirrel, I did tell you that.”

“So, you see, Mommy, that’s what happened.”

“And now, the gardener and the girl are happy.”

“Oh, Little One, I am happy too.”

The two squirrels hugged each other tightly.

And the gardener and her girl hugged each other tightly.

Each Spring, the tree blossoms, each year with more and more blooms.

And the gardener, the girl, and both of the squirrels are forever reminded that there is magic afoot.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for listening.

Where is the magic afoot in your life?