Our Garden
By Hikari
Mama, it’s hot! Why is it this hot?” I was gardening with my grandma and it was boiling hot out. Dirt was sticking onto my forehead and hot sweat was running down my cheeks.
“That’s not the right way to do it,” said my grandma softly.
I looked at my fingers curled around the stem of the plant. What am I doing wrong now? I thought.
My grandma walked over to me.
“Don’t pull the plant out of the box. Push from the bottom,” she said
Her cold fingers took my hands and positioned them in the right place.
“Now push,”
I pushed and the plant popped out. I looked at my grandma. She was as plump as a perfect pink peach and her eyes always had a special twinkle in them. I remembered all the times she taught me things, like when she was teaching me how to swim freestyle and I kept messing up but she always had faith in me. She never gets mad at me if I do something wrong. She just smiles and tells me that next time I should try harder and do better.
Next I took a seedling from the box and planted it next to the maple tree. After that I picked out a little yellow flower to plant.
“Where should I put this?” I asked my grandma.
“You can put it anywhere,” she answered.
I thought for a bit about where to put it. I picked the spot next to a bush of pink flowers. I grabbed a shovel and dug a small hole. I gently placed the flower into the hole and patted the dirt around it. I loved the feeling of the dirt running through my fingers like sunlight streaming through the blinds first thing in the morning. I looked at the flower sitting in the dirt. It was beautiful. I showed my grandma the little flower and she agreed that it was beautiful. I felt so special because my grandma lost her garden during the war and it was like rebuilding it.
“We’re done gardening now,” said my grandma.
I looked at the flower one more time and went back inside. When I got inside I realized that I was really hot. I thought about standing in front of the refrigerator but that would just look plain weird.
“What should I do?”
“Do what?” my grandma asked.
I didn’t realize that I was talking out loud. I couldn’t think of anything else to do so I dashed upstairs and hopped into the shower. The hot water running down my sweaty skin felt so good. The shower room started to steam up. The steam looked like puffy white cotton candy that you could get at the fairgrounds. I was getting hot so I jumped out of the shower. I yanked a towel off the rack. The fuzz from the towel rubbing onto my skin felt so relaxing. Once I dried off I pulled on some clean clothes and tip-toed downstairs.
I went outside and saw my grandma looking at the garden. I stood next to my grandma and looked at the garden with her. We were silent. It was too special of a moment to talk. I saw the smile on my grandma’s face and a grin spread across my face. I closed my eyes but I could still see my grandma. Her eyes were twinkling in the glow of the sun.