Tiny Seed, Big Hole

"I'll put it right here," said Mia, and she held up the smallest seed in the whole garden.

It was round and brown, no bigger than a crumb. Mia had wanted to grow something all spring. Now she had a seed, a spoon, and a patch of dirt by the back step.

She dug a hole with the spoon. Then she dropped the seed in. Plip.

But the seed did not stay. A gust of wind came along the fence, and the seed rolled out of the hole and bounced across the dirt.

"Come back!" said Mia.

She chased it past the watering can. She chased it past her sneakers on the step. It stopped under a leaf.

Mia put it back in the hole. She patted the dirt flat. Whoosh went the wind, and the seed rolled out again.

"Oh, you tricky seed," said Mia.

She sat down and thought. The wind was too strong for a little crumb of a seed. What could be strong enough to hold it?

A beetle was walking by with a pebble on its back. It was only carrying the pebble home, and it did not stop for Mia. But Mia looked at the pebble. Then she looked at the ground. All around the garden lay small, heavy stones.

"Stones!" she said.

She dug the hole deeper this time. She tucked the seed in the bottom. She pushed the dirt over it, and then she gathered four little stones and set them in a ring on top.

Whoosh went the wind. The stones did not move. The dirt did not move.

Mia waited. Nothing rolled. Nothing bounced.

"Good night, seed," she whispered. "Grow when you're ready."

Far under the dirt, something went tick, as small as a drop of rain. Mia leaned close and listened to the quiet garden, and the wind slowly stopped.