The Seed
Winter.
I received the seed in winter. It came by courier mail and it arrived at my front door in a small cardboard box, tied with a yellow string. It took me at least ten minutes to get through the layers of bubble wrap tissue-paper and finally through the small hessian sack that held the precious seed. It was beautiful. Small, sort of oval shaped and it glittered like a diamond on one of the crowned jewels. I really wanted to plant it; to watch it grow into something special, but the directions that came with the plant said I wasn’t allowed. There were strict instructions for me to plant the seed in spring. Winter was too harsh for the seed and the seed was too fragile for winter. I placed the seed at the bottom of my false drawer-bottom, hidden in a ring box, stashed between my favourite red cashmere sweater and the ugly green scarf cousin Andy had given to me for Christmas.
Spring.
The first day of spring didn’t look special. If someone happened to peer into my house, they would’ve seen me doing what I did every day; absolutely nothing. But they didn’t know about the seed; the secret seed that had spent the last three months buried under layers of clothing. It was finally time for the seed to be taken out the box and placed in a pot with soil and water and light. It was time for the seed to prosper. The prepared pot was brought out from the back and the seed was placed into it. Alternatively, I poured water and soil over the seedling. Days began to blur as I waited for the seed to grow. Finally, twenty four days in, there was a leaf. It was small, but it was there. The seed continued to grow and soon there were leaves everywhere. Some leaves were small, some were like elephants. But they all had this wonderful aura about them. It was like they held a magical power; a power so great that it only revealed itself to the true master. But the leaves weren’t something that excited me greatly. Don’t get me wrong, they were pretty epic, but I was waiting; waiting for the flower.
Summer.
The first day of summer was stifling hot. It was the type of day that everything sticks together. Everything is in this hot oven of the world and we all cook like chickens ready to roast. I wasn’t faring well. Sweat poured off my brow even though every single fan was on full blast. The air conditioner had gone and collapsed on itself just the summer before. How inconvenient. The flower seemed to be enjoying the rays of sunlight, though. It had finally started to flower and the petals were as soft as a marshmallow clouds. The leaves glowed a fluorescent green and the petals were blue, magenta or orange, depending on the light and how you looked at them. The plant grew bigger. At first it grew slowly - a couple of mm a week - but by the time two months had passed, the plant was almost three metres high. It hadn’t lost its sparkle either. It sometimes shone so brightly that I had to wear sunglasses in order to prevent blindness.
I received the seed in winter. It came by courier mail and it arrived at my front door in a small cardboard box, tied with a yellow string. It took me at least ten minutes to get through the layers of bubble wrap tissue-paper and finally through the small hessian sack that held the precious seed. It was beautiful. Small, sort of oval shaped and it glittered like a diamond on one of the crowned jewels. I really wanted to plant it; to watch it grow into something special, but the directions that came with the plant said I wasn’t allowed. There were strict instructions for me to plant the seed in spring. Winter was too harsh for the seed and the seed was too fragile for winter. I placed the seed at the bottom of my false drawer-bottom, hidden in a ring box, stashed between my favourite red cashmere sweater and the ugly green scarf cousin Andy had given to me for Christmas.
Spring.
The first day of spring didn’t look special. If someone happened to peer into my house, they would’ve seen me doing what I did every day; absolutely nothing. But they didn’t know about the seed; the secret seed that had spent the last three months buried under layers of clothing. It was finally time for the seed to be taken out the box and placed in a pot with soil and water and light. It was time for the seed to prosper. The prepared pot was brought out from the back and the seed was placed into it. Alternatively, I poured water and soil over the seedling. Days began to blur as I waited for the seed to grow. Finally, twenty four days in, there was a leaf. It was small, but it was there. The seed continued to grow and soon there were leaves everywhere. Some leaves were small, some were like elephants. But they all had this wonderful aura about them. It was like they held a magical power; a power so great that it only revealed itself to the true master. But the leaves weren’t something that excited me greatly. Don’t get me wrong, they were pretty epic, but I was waiting; waiting for the flower.
Summer.
The first day of summer was stifling hot. It was the type of day that everything sticks together. Everything is in this hot oven of the world and we all cook like chickens ready to roast. I wasn’t faring well. Sweat poured off my brow even though every single fan was on full blast. The air conditioner had gone and collapsed on itself just the summer before. How inconvenient. The flower seemed to be enjoying the rays of sunlight, though. It had finally started to flower and the petals were as soft as a marshmallow clouds. The leaves glowed a fluorescent green and the petals were blue, magenta or orange, depending on the light and how you looked at them. The plant grew bigger. At first it grew slowly - a couple of mm a week - but by the time two months had passed, the plant was almost three metres high. It hadn’t lost its sparkle either. It sometimes shone so brightly that I had to wear sunglasses in order to prevent blindness.
Autumn.
Autumn arrived with a change of colour and a crunch of leaves. The weather turned windy and half the day was always spent sweeping leaves off the lawn. The plant suffered. As the months progressed, the plant shrunk and the leaves started disappearing. First they turned brown and then dropped off completely, joining the collection of leaves on my just-swept front lawn. It shrunk fast and after just the first month, the tree was just a hint of what it had been in the summer. It looked so forlorn, lost in the garden; overlooked by the pines and oaks that grew. It shrunk down so small that it was no longer visible from above and I had to remove soil in order for it to be seen. The last day of autumn was sad. The tree that had grown and lived in my garden for the past three seasons was now nothing but a small seed; a reminder of what it had once been.
- Do I need to add a reason for the seed/add a prologue/epilogue and say why it is special or is the air of mystery good/okay? -
Autumn arrived with a change of colour and a crunch of leaves. The weather turned windy and half the day was always spent sweeping leaves off the lawn. The plant suffered. As the months progressed, the plant shrunk and the leaves started disappearing. First they turned brown and then dropped off completely, joining the collection of leaves on my just-swept front lawn. It shrunk fast and after just the first month, the tree was just a hint of what it had been in the summer. It looked so forlorn, lost in the garden; overlooked by the pines and oaks that grew. It shrunk down so small that it was no longer visible from above and I had to remove soil in order for it to be seen. The last day of autumn was sad. The tree that had grown and lived in my garden for the past three seasons was now nothing but a small seed; a reminder of what it had once been.
- Do I need to add a reason for the seed/add a prologue/epilogue and say why it is special or is the air of mystery good/okay? -
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