Who Teaches The Flowers To Grow

Who is it that teaches the flowers how to grow? The ancient fairy, perhaps, who appears on a breath of wind caressed by the first glorious rays of the dawn, while the world sleeps soundly. Clothed in brown, with a long white beard reaching down to his brass belt-buckle, he materializes with an ever-present smile wrinkling his kind, weathered face, and time abates for a few precious minutes. He bears a thick, knotted cane, and two well-loved books, which he deposits aside briefly, and kneels to the dew-laden ground. Tenderly, the old man whispers secret knowledge to the seeds beneath the damp, frigid earth, beckoning the fragile tendrils forth into the morning air, into life. Rising again, with the assistance of his cane, he settles himself upon the stump of a fallen tree, and draws a pair of round, wire-rimmed spectacles from his pocket; adjusting them on his thin nose, the ancient being opens the smaller of the two books and commences reading aloud the history of the world to the timid, young sprouts. When at last he concludes, the old fairy looks up and beholds with innocent wonder a diverse multitude before him. The array of sizes, shapes, and shades dazzle in the breaking dawn, each flower unique, though they were mere seeds but a moment before. After drinking in the immense, unspoiled beauty, he shakes himself from his reverie with a good-natured chuckle, and turns to the next blank page in the second book, where he scribbles five words at the top in a neat little scrawl, where they join the myriad of entries. His will completed, the ancient little man’s expression returns once again to that familiar smile as his eyes wander one last time over the splendor of his children. Bowing his farewell, he vanishes before any can happen to catch a glimpse of him. One always knows when he visits, however, by the magnificent display visible to all who walk into the open air, for it is the ancient fairy, who appears on a breath of wind; it is he who teaches the flowers how to grow, and if one were to read the words he writes in his book every day, they would see that they say;

“I witnessed a miracle today.”