The seed cracked open. The young girl tumbled onto warm, dark soil. She curled into a soft bed beside a patch of wildflowers.
She burrowed down and waited. The soil was quiet. She pressed her palms against the earth and felt the sun's warmth seep through.
Days passed. The soil stayed still. She listened to the wind hum through the grass and the bees buzz near the wooden fence. What would happen? She wondered.
Still nothing changed. She tucked her hands into the warm earth and closed her eyes. She kept waiting. The garden hummed around her.
Then — a tiny green shoot pushed through the soil, reaching up toward the sky.
She stretched higher and higher. Leaves unfurled around her fingers, drinking in the golden light. Something happy buzzed inside her — a secret.
Thunder rolled across the sky. The wind howled and bent her hard against the ground. Rain drummed against her leaves.
A raindrop caught the lightning's flash and sparkled like a diamond. She laughed. She held on tight.
The clouds parted. She stood tall among the wildflowers — a young apple tree, her branches heavy with blossoms and sweet fruit.
The sun warmed her leaves. Birds chirped from her branches. She smiled, knowing she had waited well.
Butterflies fluttered past her blossoms. Bees hummed from flower to flower. The garden around her had come alive.
She stood among the wildflowers, heavy with sweet fruit, her roots deep in the warm earth. She had waited well. And now — she was here.
