The Animals of Little Meadow, Part 2: The Thirsty Flower

The Animals of Little Meadow, Part 2: The Thirsty Flower

The Story Begins

It was a warm day on Little Meadow. The sun shone on the soft grass, the pebbles by the stream, and the white clover blossoms. The bees were flying more slowly, and the butterflies were resting in the shade beneath the leaves.

Liza the Squirrel hopped over small clumps of grass. Hop onto a stone, hop over the path, hop to the bush! Her fluffy tail swayed behind her like a soft little broom.

“One last jump to the stream!” she called happily.

Just then, she stopped by a tiny flower. It grew in the grass, very low to the ground. It had a yellow centre and a few light-purple petals. But its little head was not looking up at the sun. It bent down towards the dry earth.

Liza crouched as close as she could, but she did not touch it with her paws.

“Oh,” she whispered. “Are you hiding? Or are you tired?”

The flower did not move. A thin blade of grass lay beside it, and the ground around it was warm.

Liza looked across the meadow. Then she put her paws to her mouth and called, “Bobo! Timo! Uma! Please come here!”

Bobo the Hedgehog came first. He walked slowly so that the lovely green leaf he carried on his spines would not fall off. Behind him came Timo the Bunny in soft little hops. Uma the Little Owl flew over quietly and settled on a low hazel branch.

“What did you find?” Bobo asked, tilting his round head.

Liza pointed down. “This flower keeps its head down. I want to help it right away!”

Timo sat beside her. His long ears moved in the warm breeze. “First, we must find out what it needs,” he said softly. “If we jump all around it, we may disturb it even more.”

“That is true,” Uma nodded from the branch. “After such a warm day, a little plant may be thirsty. It does not need much. Just a little water, some shade, and peace.”

Bobo looked towards the stream. “I will bring it water!”

“Wait,” said Liza. “The stream is quite far away. And what if you bring too much?”

The hedgehog stopped. He had not thought of that. A large drop might bend the tiny flower down even more.

Uma smiled gently. “Water is precious. So we do not need to take much. Let us look for just a few small drops.”

The friends looked around. In the sunshine, almost all the morning dew had disappeared. But tiny drops still sparkled on the broad leaves near a shady bush.

“There!” whispered Bobo.

Carefully, he placed his green leaf beneath the edge of one bush leaf. Then he lifted it a little with his nose. One drop slid down. Plink! It landed on Bobo’s leaf. A second drop followed, and then a third.

“I have them!” he said quietly, as if he were carrying little treasures.

Meanwhile, Timo looked for where the sun shone most strongly. Above the flower, he found a big plantain leaf. He held it gently with his paws and propped it up with a thin blade of grass.

“Like this,” he said happily. “It will not be dark here. Just a little shade.”

Liza wanted to fan the flower with her tail, so that it would be cooler. She had already taken a breath, but Uma looked at her over her small round glasses.

“A strong wind might be too much for it,” she said kindly.

The squirrel nodded. “Then I will just sit quietly.”

Bobo came back very, very slowly. Step, stop, step. He held the leaf level so the drops would not roll away into the grass. By the flower, he bent down, but suddenly a dry blade of grass shifted beneath his paw.

When Things Start to Change

“Oh!” he whispered.

The leaf tilted.

Liza hurried forward, but Timo gently held her back with a paw. “Slowly,” he said. “Bobo can do it.”

The hedgehog did not move. He took a breath and rested the leaf on a tiny stone beside the flower. Then he tilted it just a little.

The first drop slid into the earth near the stem. The second followed. The third stayed on the edge of the leaf like a round bead of glass.

“One more,” whispered Liza.

Bobo moved the leaf ever so slightly. The last drop fell exactly where it should.

All four friends waited for a while. The bush rustled above them. In the distance, a bee buzzed softly. The flower stayed still beneath Timo’s green shade.

“Maybe it needs more time,” Bobo said in a slightly uncertain voice.

“Yes,” Uma nodded. “Little plants do many things slowly. Just like you, Bobo.”

The hedgehog smiled at that.

After a while, one light-purple petal moved gently. Then another moved too. The little head lifted just a little, only the tiniest bit, but it was no longer looking down at the earth.

“Look!” Liza breathed.

Timo did not let go of the leaf, so the shade stayed in place. Bobo sat down in the grass, and his eyes shone. Uma bent her head too, so that she could see the flower clearly.

The flower stretched once more, slowly. Its thin stem stood a little straighter now. Beside it, the earth gleamed darker and wetter.

“A small help,” Timo whispered, “and look how important it is.”

Liza smiled, but this time she did not clap or jump. She only placed a tiny dry petal beside the flower, so that the sun would not shine directly on the ground near its roots.

Later, the sun sank lower. The trees’ shadows stretched across part of Little Meadow, and the air was no longer so warm. Timo carefully let go of the plantain leaf. Bobo put his leaf back on his spines.

“Dew may come in the morning,” said Uma. “Perhaps another flower will have a drink too.”

Not far away in the grass, there was another tiny bud. Bobo looked at it curiously, but he did not change anything around it. He only remembered where it grew.

Then the four friends walked slowly across the meadow. Liza did not run so fast now. Every so often, she stopped to look at the flowers by the path. Little Meadow smelled of grass, warm earth, and clover.

Behind them, the tiny purple flower remained. Its little head looked quietly up.

Today, a small drop of water helped Little Meadow. And perhaps tomorrow, another flower will drink from the morning dew.