Once upon a time there was a boy, who lived in a dry country of red and yellow sands.

He was happy for the most part: the land was beautiful, though sometimes dangerous, he had a little tent he lived in, and there was a well nearby, which always had enough water every day for him to drink. He also had a little fenced-in garden. But there were no flowers growing there. In fact, there were no flowers anywhere around where he lived.

There were other plants, of course. Prickly cacti grew in the nearby dunes. Joshua trees provided shade when he went walking through the wilderness. Some great, strong, Baobabs surrounded his village. But none of them ever had flowers on them.

He had heard stories of faraway places where flowers grew in great fields, and there were roses, and primroses, and even sunflowers. He wished dearly that he could see them one day, or perhaps even have a flower of his own for his little fenced-in garden. But there were no flowers in the dry country. And sometimes, that made him very lonely.

Then one day, as he woke up to get water out of his well for the morning, he saw something magical. A little green shoot had pushed through the heavy, cracked soil, just inside his garden. He took a closer look- it was a small green stem, with two little folded leaves tucked into it either side. He could hardly believe his eyes. How could this have happened? He neither planted it, nor knew where it could have come from, and yet, now, it was here. And that made him very happy.

First, he leaned down to get the closest look he could get. The beautiful green colour was such a lovely contrast to the bleak surroundings. The shape was so delicate and unlike anything he had seen before. He immediately felt that this plant was special, and he decided then and there that he would love and care for this flower forever.

So he set out to do just that. He remembered that flowers need water, which was scarce in this desert. And so he went and got some from the well. He poured it gently around the little shoot. And he waited for it to grow.

And he waited. And he watched. But it wasn’t growing!

This made the boy very worried. What was wrong? Why did the flower not grow? So he went and got more water from the well. Maybe, he thought, if I just soak the ground around it really well, then it will grow. Then he poured this water all around the area where the flower was. And he stood back and waited for it to grow.

And he watched it, and he waited, but it was still not growing!

The boy began to get impatient, and ran to the well quickly to get even more water. But every time he went to the well, there was less water in it. When he got back, he still couldn’t see a difference in the size of the flower. So he poured the whole bucket he was carrying on to the flower.

“Please, dear flower, grow!”, he spoke to the flower, “I’m giving you all the water you could possibly need, now please grow…”

But the flower did not visibly grow, as he watched it and waited.

Once again, the boy went off to the well, this time feeling incredibly sad. The flower made him very happy, but he wanted it to grow. And here it was, just refusing to grow, even though he was giving it so much water… He felt alone and afraid that the flower might never grow at all. He got to the well, filled the water bucket again, and went back to the garden.

Now, once again, he stood in the garden looking at the flower. And what he saw came as a cruel shock- the flower had begun to droop. It looked sad, as its leaves hung, and its stem was bending to one side. It wasn’t as bright green as it had been, either. Now, it was a pale, sickly colour.

The boy did not know what to do. He had given this flower so much water, and now it looked like it was dying. He got incredibly afraid, and his sadness could no longer be contained. He burst into tears.

“Why are you doing this to me?”, he sobbed through his tears, “Please don’t die! I’ve given you all the water I can! If I give you any more, my well will be dry and I won’t have any left to drink today…”

But the flower, of course, said nothing.

And the boy wanted to go to the well and get more water, but he didn’t have the strength any more. He just sat beside the flower, with his face turned away, and cried. And he cried some more. And he kept crying all day, and could not see for all the tears streaming down his puffy cheeks. He cried about the flower which had looked like it was dying, he cried because he felt so helpless and didn’t know how to fix it, he cried because all he wanted was for the flower to grow.

Most of the remaining day went by like this, and the sun had risen high into the sky, and was now already dipping near to the horizon. Sunset was not far away. The boy always watched the sunset, so when he realized it was beginning to get dark, he pulled himself together. If the flower was dying, at least he would watch one sunset with her before she was gone again.

So he turned back towards the flower, and moved closer. And his vision cleared slowly. And as the flower came into focus, his heart lifted, and his strength flooded back. Excited, he studied the little shoot, the flower which he was afraid would die. It was just as green and beautiful as it had been before. Only now, the boy could clearly tell that the flower was just a little bit bigger. It had grown after all… somehow, the flower had grown, and without his effort. Happiness flooded into him as he peacefully settled in next to his flower and admired her for the miracle that she was.

All it had needed was time! The sun had done its work, and its light had nourished the flower! All alone, without his help, and without any more water, the flower had grown…

The sun set gently over the dunes, as the boy sat beside his beautiful flower. They watched the sunset together (if you can believe that flowers watch sunsets, which they do). And as the warm yellow glow of the sun carefully sank beneath the horizon, the boy felt completely happy.

He learned that day to trust that the sunlight and time will do their part, and though he still watered the flower, from then on he gave it only as much as it needed. And sometimes a little bit extra, for good measure. As the flower grew, he could give it more and more water, but he never needed to give it so much that his well ran dry. Over time, the little shoot grew into a beautiful sunflower, and when it bloomed, it shone so brightly that the sun had some serious competition. And though the boy had thought he was as happy as he could possibly be, each day he got even happier.

And how did the flower feel? Well, the boy tells me that the flower is incredibly happy too, and while I don’t know how he knows this, I happen to know this boy very, very, well, and it is safe to say that we can trust what he says.

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