The Sunflower

By

Judith Johnson

WGA Reg: 1135406

In the beginning there was a Gardener. He had strong hands. He had loving hands. He created a beautiful garden by planting seeds.

There was a seed. Warm and safe, the seed slept in the Gardeners hand. The Gardener had great plans for the seed. Greater plans than the seed could ever imagine.

One morning the seed found himself on the ground! "Hey", cried out the little seed. "I’m cold, can you help me?" The Gardener smiled and spoke. "Be still little seed, the Gardener is here." Then the strong, loving hands covered the seed with warm soil. "Ahhhhh, that’s much better." Said the little seed. Now he was warm and cozy. The little seed was filled with peace.

The seed woke up the next morning surrounded by water! He was scared, but he could hear the Gardeners voice. "You’re safe, little seed, just drink in the water." The seed tried but there was too much water to drink. Day after day the water came and surrounded him. "The Gardener must be mistaken", he cried out, "I am a seed, not a fish. The Gardener will surely kill me!"

In the morning the seed woke up to see that he had changed. His shell was cracked open! The seed was very angry with the Gardener. "Look at what your water did to me. Now I am broken!" The seed heard the Gardener laughing. "This is not funny!" Yelled the seed, the Gardener continued to water him.

Many days and many nights had passed. The seed felt like he was too crowded, he needed more room to move. "Hello", he said, "I am squished down here, can you help me?" Although he could hear the Gardener singing, the Gardener did not answer the little seed. "Well how do you like that?," thought the little seed, "first he leaves me down here, then he waters me until my shell is broken, and now he won’t help me make more space. I am going to find that Gardener."

So the seed stretched, and he pulled. And he pushed, and he grew. He knew the Gardener was up there and that little seed wasn’t going to stop until he saw that Gardener face to face. When he finally reached the top the light was so bright that the seedling couldn’t see. "Where are you Gardener? Help me, I cannot see." The voice of the Gardener calmed the little seed. "Be still, little seedling, feel the warmth of the Sun, let it nourish you and drink in the water." The sun did feel warm, and the water no longer scared him. The seedling stretched out and enjoyed the feeling of freedom. The seedling was at peace.

One morning, just after the birds started to sing, the seedling noticed little green flapping things hanging from his stem. "What are these?" asked the seedling. He noticed that other seedlings in the garden had them, too. As he looked around the garden something black and fuzzy caught his eye.

He watched the black fuzzy creatures crawl along the ground. They climbed up on some of the other seedlings. The seedling was very frightened when he saw the black fuzzy creatures EATING the other seedlings. "Gardener help us, HELP US!" The seedling cried out, "Please don’t forget us!" Just then one of the black fuzzy creatures started crawling on the little seedling. The seedling closed his eyes tight and waited to be eaten.

"The Gardener must not love me anymore," thought the seedling. "Maybe I am too small, or too green……oh I know…it is these green flapping folds that make me ugly to the Gardener and that is why he won’t help me." The seedling was so busy feeling sorry for himself that he did not notice the Gardener picking up all the black fuzzy creatures in the garden. His eyes were still closed as the creature was removed from his stem. "Just in time, Gardener!" Yelled the seedling. "In perfect time." Replied the Gardener.

One afternoon, as the hands of the Gardener passed over the garden, the Gardener touched the seedling. He loved to be touched by the Gardener, for the Gardeners hands carried love, and the scent of life lingered long after his hands were gone. But this touching turned into pulling and tearing. It was very painful and the little seedling became angry. "Why is it that you would pull and tear at me, Gardener? Can’t you love me the way I am?" The Gardener kept on with his work and answered, "Be still, little seedling. You have weeds, and they must be pulled or you will surely die." The seedling cried out in pain. "Stop, Stop!" But the Gardner did not stop. The seedling fainted.

When the seedling woke up he was amazed at how much room he had around his roots. The seedling could stretch and reach. He even had room to grow. The little seedling was so happy that he turned to tell another seedling……but what he saw was very sad. The seedling next to him was surrounded by weeds. It had turned brown and wilted, the weeds had killed it. Just then the Gardeners hands pulled that dead seedling, and all the weeds, from the earth. There was nothing but an empty space left. "The Gardener was taking care of me." Thought the seedling. "He was saving my life, he really loves me." The seedling went to sleep that night filled with peace.

One hot morning the seedling awoke with a heavy head. He couldn’t lift it to see anything and the Gardener was attaching him to a pole. "Stop," cried out the seedling. "Why is my head so heavy? And how does it please the Gardener to attach me to a pole?" The Gardener was singing but the seedling did not want to listen. "I won’t be able to sway in the wind, or move side to side if one of those black hairy creatures come back. Please, Gardener, I beg you to stop!" The seedling wept.

The Gardener watched over the seedling for three days and three nights. On the morning of the fourth day the Gardener released him from the pole. The little seedling was so angry he looked right at the Gardener and started to yell at him. This only made the Gardener laugh. "Why my little flower, look how strong you are." The flower realized that his head was no longer too heavy. The flower was tall and strong and had yellow petals all around his head. The little flower looked around the garden and saw that all the seedlings now had a head of beautiful color. There were pinks and purples and blues and yellows and reds. The little flower took a deep breath of the beautiful scent that danced along the breeze. The little flower was at peace.

Many days and many nights had passed. The Gardener would come and dig around the roots of the little flower. The Gardener even trimmed some of the green flapping folds when they started to turn brown.. Although this did hurt the little flower, he did not complain. The little flower was starting to understand that the Gardener was taking care of him and helping him to grow tall and strong. By now the little flower was taller than any other flower in the garden.

One cool morning the flower was frightened by the buzzing sound of flying things. He heard some of the other flowers saying that they could sting. They looked scary to the flower and he wanted them to go away. "Gardener, help us!" He cried out. Just then a large one landed on his colorful petals. Then another one of the flying creatures, now there were two of the yellow and black insects crawling all over his head. He tried to fan them away with his green flapping folds but he could not reach. "Gardener, help, HELP!" Cried the flower. The Gardener was only a few feet away. He looked at the flower but then returned to his weeding. "I have been abandoned!" Said the flower. The Gardener no longer cares for me, what have I done that he has left me here to die!" The flower could feel the little legs of the creatures all over his petals. "Yuck! I can’t believe this is the way the Gardener wants me to die!"

The Gardeners hand swept the Bees away from the flowers head. "Be still, my beautiful flower. I have not left you to die. You have been pollinated. You have survived to be the tallest and most beautiful flower in my garden. Now I will make more of you, for I love you." Although the flower did not understand everything the Gardener said, the flower did hear the Gardener call him beautiful. He knew in his heart that the Gardener loved him. The flower stood a little taller that day.

One day, as the Gardener walked by, the flower noticed that he could see the top of the Gardeners head. The beautiful flower could hardly believe that he had grown so tall while all the other flowers had not. He wondered if it had to do with all the weeding and trimming the Gardener had done. Just then a songbird flew overhead and sang praises to the Gardener. All the flowers joined in. Soon all the plants and animals of the field were singing to the Gardener. "He is my Glory, he is my Creator." The beautiful flower was at peace.

One morning, while the sky was still softly pink and the clouds were low, the Gardener showered the beautiful flower with rainwater. It was a wonderful day as the Gardener hummed and the water fell. The flower felt a tickle on his stem. It was one of those black fuzzy creatures climbing his stem! He didn’t panic because he knew the Gardener would remove it. But instead of helping, the Gardener moved away to water other flowers. "Wait, Gardener. Take this thing with you. I have seen the damage it can do. It EATS flowers like me." The Gardener continued to walk away.

The black fuzzy creature was now in his beautiful petals. The flower was very angry! "Gardener, do you not care for your creations? Is it not you who has made it so that I could grow so tall and beautiful? Is it not you who should remove this ugly creature so that I am not harmed?" The Gardener didn’t even slow down. He continued to walk away from the flower. The flower never felt so alone before. "Please, Gardener I do not want to be eaten." The Gardener watered without concern. "I shouldn’t have trusted you, Gardener" The flower held very still and waited to be bitten. The black fuzzy creature crawled around for a very long time. When it finally stopped, it did not eat the beautiful flower, instead, he rolled around and around and around.

By the time the birds stopped flying and the crickets started singing, the black fuzzy creature had stopped moving. It built some kind of shell, or a home, on the edge of the beautiful flowers bright yellow petals. In fact, all the flowers of the field had these little cocoons. The Gardener walked through his garden singing the song of life and bringing with him the scent of daisies. He walked up to the beautiful flower and said "Well done, my Sunflower." The Sunflowers heart jumped. "I have a name!" As the Gardener walked away the Sunflower decided to trust the Gardener and be still. That decision gave the Sunflower peace, and that feeling carried him until the next full moon.

On a dew covered morning the Gardener walked through his meadow. With every step the smell of damp leaves filled the air. He looked around his beautiful garden and started to sing. He rubbed his scarred and over worked hands together until they were warm. He then stretched out his arms as far as they could go and walked through his garden. As he passed the flowers the cocoons started to open. To the Sunflowers surprise the black fuzzy creatures were now beautiful flying flowers! They filled the air as the Gardeners life giving hands passed over. Thousands of colorful winged beauties danced in the sky. The sight of all those tiny wings filling the air made the Gardeners heart laugh. He laughed so loud that his joy filled the sky with pink and purple clouds. If you look very hard you can still see his laughter today.

Two more moons had passed, many new birds had begun to take flight and the air was growing cooler. The Sunflower stood tall. There was no fear. There was no drama. He simply knew whom he was, that the Gardener had created him and taken care of him every step of the way. He understood that the Gardener loved him so much, he sometimes had to prune him, weed out the dead things and leave him to natures necessities. Everything the Gardener did was for a reason. The Sunflower was at peace…….wait. What was this? The Sunflower felt the strangest sensation. It wasn’t painful; it was like a release. Yes a release of pressure. All over his head were tiny little bursts of something letting go.

For a moment the Sunflower thought he was loosing his beautiful petals. He was not afraid, he was sure that the Gardener would take care of him anyway. Sure he would look funny without his yellow color, but…..no it was not his petals he was loosing. It was his seeds that he was setting free. The Sunflower was engulfed with emotion. It was at the very moment the Sunflower had true faith in the Gardener, that the Gardener was using him to create life. It all made sense now. Everything really did happen for a reason. The Sunflower looked down at a thousand little seeds. All of them were complaining, and grumbling that they were cold. The Sunflower spoke. "Be still little seeds, for the Gardener is coming."

The beautiful, strong, tall Sunflower swayed in the breeze. He turned his head to follow the Sun as the birds filled the sky and the Gardeners big strong hands planted seeds. He heard the Gardener speaking to the seeds gently. He heard the songs of all the creatures in the Garden. And the Sunflower was at peace. And still is to this very day.

Keyword: Sunflower Christian Fiction Christian Children's story Kids Children spiritual moving

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Posted by R.E.Potter 2008-02-29 13:38:21 liked it Thought it was a beautifully told story. + Report this comment

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