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Lea and the Magic Sunflower - Part 2

Lea was starting to feel very excited. The winter was finally over and in a few weeks time she would be able to plant her magic sunflower seeds. The winter had seemed to drag on forever and everyday Lea had gone to the drawer where she had hidden the seeds in a little bag, and took them out to look at them. They didn’t look any different to any other sunflower seeds but Lea knew they were, because the magic sunflower had told her to plant them, so she would have even more special powers.

The big day finally arrived for Lea to plant her magic seeds. She went to fetch her Dad and once again they dug up the earth by the side of the apple tree, because that was the sunniest side of the garden, planted the seeds and patted the earth back down. Then, just like the year before, Lea went to fetch her watering can and gave the seeds a good drink of water. “You’ll be lucky if one grows as big as the one did last year” said her Dad and went back inside the house. Lea stood and looked at the little patch where she had planted her seeds. All she could do was to wait and see what happened. She hadn’t told anybody else about her magic seeds because she knew no-one would be believe her, but soon the seeds would start to grow and then the magic would start again.

Everyday Lea watered the seeds and inspected the ground looking for the first signs that they were growing. Tom, her brother kept laughing at her. “They won’t grow any faster you know while you keep looking at them. Just leave them to grow on their own, they’re only sunflower seeds, nothing special”. But Lea knew different and one day when she went down the garden to water them they had all pushed their way through the ground and were starting to grow. Lea inspected them very carefully. “I wonder which one is going to be the magic one” she thought to herself “they all look the same”. But they weren’t all the same. Gradually, they all grew taller and taller, but Lea couldn’t see any smiling face on them. They just looked like any ordinary sunflowers, very tall with a big yellow flower, but no smiling face. Amongst the tall sunflowers were two that had hardly grown at all. They didn’t look as if they were growing and her Dad said that maybe he ought to dig them up and put them in a pot instead so they could grow in the house for a while but Lea didn’t want to do that. She said to leave them and see if they started to grow in a few weeks time.

The tallest sunflowers kept on growing but the two little ones didn’t grow any bigger. Lea felt very, very disappointed. The tall sunflowers looked very nice but they certainly weren’t magic. The two small ones hadn’t even got a flower and it looked as if they never would have. Lea was really sad. She had so been looking forward to the sunflowers being magic and giving her special powers, but they had grown like any other sunflowers. Tom was right, they were only sunflowers, nothing special.

Lea didn’t go back into the garden for a few days because it kept raining and she had been playing inside. She decided she wasn’t going to be miserable because the sunflowers weren’t magic. She remembered what the magic sunflower had told her that she must always be happy and make everyone else feel happy. It didn’t really matter that the new sunflowers weren’t magic, she still had the special power to make everyone feel happy so that’s what she must do.

The following week when the rain had stopped Lea went into the garden to look at the sunflowers . She looked at the tall ones with the lovely big yellow flowers, sparkling in the sunlight and thought how beautiful they looked. Then she looked down at the two little ones but my goodness me, what a shock she got. The two little ones had now grown a flower each and right in the middle of the little flowers was a smiling face. Lea was so surprised, she hadn’t even expected the little sunflowers to have a flower, but here they were, each with a smiling face. She had grown magic sunflowers after all, but they were only very small ones. Suddenly, one of the sunflowers winked at her and started to speak. “Lea, Lea, come closer, we have something for you”. Lea knelt down so she could see their smiling faces. “Lea, you are a very special little girl and because you always try to be happy even when sometimes you feel sad, we are going to give you some more magic powers, even more powerful than the magic you were given last year”. The other sunflower started laughing and as it laughed, petals from the flower fell to the ground. “Lea” said the first sunflower “pick up a petal, put it in the palm of your hand, close your eyes, squeeze it and see what happens”.

Lea picked up a petal and did what the sunflower had told her. She felt a warm glow on her face, as if the sun was shining on her. She opened her eyes and straight away saw that everything in the garden had faces. The flowers, the trees, the bushes, the grass, the apples on the tree, even the little stones lying in between the flowers. It was like another world. A world that nobody could see, only Lea. As she stood looking round in amazement, she could hear voices and realized it was the birds talking to each other. Music came from the leaves on the trees and the pretty flowers in the garden were all singing. Snails were humming tunes as they crawled along the paths and the bees were all settling down in the huge sunflowers to have a sleep as the sunflowers sang a lullaby to them. Butterflies were clapping each other as they took it in turns to dance around in the air and the apples on the tree were all singing. It didn’t look like Lea’s garden anymore. All the plants and trees, the flowers and birds were all so happy and they were talking to each other as if by magic they had all come alive.

“Lea, Lea” Lea turned round to see who was calling her. It was her Mum. “Lea, are you alright, what are you doing? You’ve been stood staring at the sunflowers for ages, it’s time for your tea. “Yes, I’m coming” shouted Lea. She looked at the little sunflowers again but the smiling faces had gone and everything in the garden looked just the same as it always did. Maybe she had been daydreaming. She went inside to eat her tea. She would go back out again later.

After Lea had eaten her tea, she went back out into the garden. The two small sunflowers had bent their heads down but as Lea approached they looked up and smiled at her . Lea felt so happy. The sunflowers were magic, she hadn’t been daydreaming after all. “Lea, Lea” said one of the sunflowers and the other sunflower started to laugh. Once again petals from the flower fell to the ground. “Lea, pick up a petal, close your eyes and squeeze it hard”. Lea picked up a petal, closed her eyes and pressed it hard. She felt the warm glow spreading all over her and when she opened her eyes she saw the garden had come alive again and the tall sunflowers had turned their heads to look down the garden. Lea could see in the corner of the garden a beautiful archway made of red and white roses. She went to explore. She had never seen the archway before. Whatever was it, she had to find out. She peered into it and could hear soft music. Inside was a path leading into a brightly lit tunnel. She must go and see what was inside it.

She went very slowly down the path and as she got nearer to the entrance of the tunnel, she got the surprise of her life. Sitting on a big stone was a little green pixie. She had read about pixies in storybooks, but didn’t ever think that they were real. But here was a real life pixie and it was waving to her. “Hello Lea” said the pixie “I’ve been waiting for you”. Lea went over to the pixie, she thought she must be dreaming. But the pixie took hold of Lea’s hand and said “Do you believe in fairies?” Lea shook her head “I don’t, they’re just in fairy stories”. “Well come with me” said the pixie, I want to show you something, but you must be very quiet”. Walking very slowly through the tunnel with the pixie leading the way, they stepped out onto a fluffy white cloud. Lea could see lots and lots of other fluffy white clouds with beautiful white castles built on them. “Where are we?” asked Lea “This is the secret world of the tooth fairies” the pixie told her “you know who the tooth fairy is don’t you?”

“Yes, said Lea, “but I don’t really believe in it” “Did you believe there was any pixies “ No, I keep thinking I must be dreaming” said Lea “Well, you’re not dreaming, I’m real, and because the sunflowers have given you special powers you are able to see me” the pixie told her. “If you don’t believe in the tooth fairy, why do you put your teeth under the pillow when they fall out?” the pixie asked. “Because my Mum always leaves me some money and pretends it is the tooth fairy who has been in the night, but I know it’s really my Mum who takes the teeth” explained Lea “The pixie started to laugh “Don’t be silly, why ever would your Mum want your teeth, she’s got her own”

But Lea wasn’t listening to the pixie anymore, she was staring with her eyes as wide as big saucers because she could see the fluffy clouds were now full of beautiful tiny fairies with different coloured wings and each of them was carrying a little tooth. As Lea watched she could see the fairies were busy building castles from the teeth. Hundreds of fairies, all flying onto the clouds bringing in teeth from all the boys and girls who had put them under their pillows. They piled up the teeth, waved their magic wands and immediately the teeth were turned into lovely white castles for the fairies to live in. It was true. There really were tooth fairies and this was where they built their castles from the childrens teeth. “But where do the fairies get the money from that they leave behind? Asked Lea. The pixie smiled. “They’re magic aren’t they and they just wave their wand and the money is left where the tooth has been. If you stop believing, the fairies don’t come to your house anymore so it will be no good putting the teeth under your pillow”. Lea stood very quiet as she watched the fairies until at last the pixie said, “We must go back now, it’s nearly bedtime and soon the fairies will be flying away to try to find lots more teeth to make their castles.

Lea followed the pixie back up the tunnel and along the path and the next minute she was back in her garden again. She looked round. The archway and the pixie had disappeared and everything in the garden was quiet. She looked at the tall sunflowers, their heads bent down as if they were asleep. She looked at the two little ones, but they were asleep as well. She thought about the pixie and the tooth fairies. They really did exist; she had seen them building their castles from children’s teeth. She would never disbelieve again. It was starting to go dark and it was time to go to bed, but she would come back into the garden tomorrow and see what other magic powers the sunflowers would give her.

The next morning after Lea had eaten her breakfast, she went into the garden . The two little sunflowers were smiling and as Lea bent down they started to laugh. Lea started to laugh as well; she felt so happy and once again picked up a petal from the ground, closed her eyes and pressed it hard. She opened her eyes but nothing had happened this time. Everything just looked the same. She picked up another petal, closed her eyes, pressed it and waited to feel the warm glow come over her. But again nothing happened. She looked down at the two little sunflowers. They were still smiling and as she stood looking they started to laugh . “Lea” said one of the sunflowers. “We are only small and soon our magic will be over but we have given you a very special power that nobody else in the world will ever have”. Lea suddenly felt a warm glow all over her and straight away the garden was full of life again. The sunflowers winked and the smiling faces disappeared.

“Lea, hurry up” shouted her Mum from the kitchen, “you’ll be late for school”. Lea ran inside, she had forgotten all about school and quickly put her coat on. As she walked with her Mum to school, she saw Max, the cat that lived at the house next door, waiting by the door to be let in. But the amazing thing was she could hear what it was thinking “Why don’t they let me in, I’m cold and hungry, I’ve been out all night while everybody has been asleep. Lea was so surprised; she thought she was hearing things. “Did you hear that cat talking?” said Lea to her Mum. “I heard it me-owing, if that’s what you mean” said her Mum “No, I heard it talking” said Lea “You’re just being silly Lea, you know cats can’t talk” said her Mum. Lea looked back at the cat, and as she did it stood on two legs and waved to her. Lea didn’t say anything else. She knew that this must be the special power the sunflower had given her

A dog suddenly ran past them, “Get out of my way” Lea heard it say. She didn’t tell her Mum this time; she knew she wouldn’t believe her. She looked up into the trees and could hear the squirrels talking to each other “When the little girl and her Mum have gone, we’ll go down and look for some nuts” she heard them saying. It was amazing. She could hear everything that the animals were saying and thinking. They walked passed the shops and through the park. In the park was a big pond with lots of fish and ducks swimming about. As she got closer she could hear the ducks saying “I hope this little girl has brought some bread for us” Lea ran over to them “I’m sorry, but I haven’t got any bread, I’m on my way to school, but I’ll bring you some later”. The ducks told her they were really hungry and so were the fish because nobody had fed them for a long time so “Don’t forget,” they shouted as Lea and her Mum walked away. Lea felt so happy. She had been given such wonderful powers. She would never be just an ordinary little girl again. Everywhere she went she was able to make people happy no matter how sad they were feeling and now she could even hear what the animals were saying.

After school Lea asked her Mum if she could take some bread for the ducks and they went back to the park again. The ducks were really pleased to see her and told her that they would tell all the other animals that lived in the park what a kind little girl she was. Lea knew know what special powers the sunflowers had given her and knew she was very, very lucky. She wanted to tell her Mum and Dad, but knew that they would just laugh at her and not believe her. She wondered if she should tell her brother Tom. She had to tell somebody her secret, so when she got home she went to find Tom. He was playing football with his friends. “Tom, Tom, come here, I want to tell you something” Lea shouted to him. “Go away, I’m playing football” “But it’s important” shouted Lea “Tell me later” Tom shouted back. Lea went back into the garden. She looked at the two little sunflowers, but they didn’t have smiling faces anymore. She looked round the garden but couldn’t see any faces on the flowers and trees. She looked over to the corner of the garden, but the archway had gone. It looked the same as it had always done. “Maybe my magic powers have gone” she thought to herself.

But just then Max the cat from next door walked past. “Hello Lea” it said “I’m going to hunt for some mice” and it went on its way. The next minute six little mice came rushing out from behind the hut “Don’t tell that cat where we are” they shouted to her as they hid under a bush. She went back to see if Tom had finished playing football and a dog came running past. “Have you seen that pesky cat?” it shouted to her. Lea watched as it raced round and round trying to find the cat. Then a rabbit scuttled by “Hello Lea, do you know where I can find any juicy carrots?” Yes, over there” said Lea pointing to the vegetable patch “but don’t let the gardeners catch you” Off the rabbit ran, followed by a tortoise who came crawling very slowly along the path. Lea could hear what he was thinking “Oh dear, I don’t think I can walk any further, I’ll never catch that rabbit up and he will have eaten all the carrots before I get there”. Lea looked down at the tortoise “You can if I help you” she told it. She picked up the tortoise and carried it over to where the rabbit was munching away at the juicy carrots. The rabbit didn’t see Lea put the tortoise down amongst the carrots, and when it suddenly spotted the tortoise munching away at the carrots he thought that maybe he wasn’t as fast as he thought he was, if the tortoise had already caught him up. He thought he was going to have all the carrots to himself. He couldn’t understand it especially when the tortoise asked him what had taken him so long to get there because he had been waiting for him a long time.

Lea started to smile. She felt so happy. This was great listening to all the animals. What fun she was going to have. She didn’t really need to tell anybody. Even if she did nobody was going to believe her. It was Lea’s secret. A very special secret, because she was a very special little girl with special powers that nobody else had got, and tomorrow she would see if the sunflowers’ smiling faces had come back.

The next day Lea went back into the garden again. The two little sunflowers had gone but as Lea knelt down she could see petals they had left behind. She picked them up, shut her eyes and pressed hard. Once again a warm glow came over her and when she opened her eyes she could see everything in the garden had come alive again and the archway was in the corner with the little green pixie waving to her. She ran over to the pixie. “Lea” said the pixie “the sunflowers have gone but you will always be able to hear the animals and make people happy. Although the garden will look the same after today, I am always here and if you want to talk to me just rub this little stone and I will appear”. The pixie handed Lea a small yellow stone and as she looked at it a smiling face looked up at her. She put it in her pocket and the pixie went back down the tunnel, and the next minute everything looked normal. She took the stone from out of her pocket and looked at it again. It was still smiling at her. Lea started laughing, she was the happiest little girl in all the world.

Just then Tom came running into the garden with his friends. “What did you want to tell me Lea” he asked. Lea put the stone back into her pocket. “Oh, it was nothing, it doesn’t matter” said Lea. Tom ran off and Lea went back inside the house. She went upstairs and looked out of the bedroom window. Everything in the garden was quiet. She wasn’t going to tell anybody her secret now, not even Tom. The sunflowers had gone, but the pixie had given her a magic stone, and maybe, just maybe, the pixie might take her back to the secret world of the tooth fairies. But it was time to go to bed and as Lea fell asleep, she felt sure she could hear the laughter of the magic sunflowers once again in the garden or was she just dreaming? “What do you think?”

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