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Mrs. Dodd told the children that they were going to have a competition to see whose sunflower could grow the tallest. She told them to plant the seeds in their garden when they got home and in the summer when the seeds had all grown, whoever had got the tallest sunflower would be the winner of the competition and would receive a special prize. The children were all very excited and ran out of the classroom with their Easter Egg and a packet of sunflower seeds. When Lea got home she went out into the garden to look for the best place to plant her seeds. Mrs Dodd had told the children to plant the seeds somewhere where it was sunny because then they would grow better. Lea looked around and decided that the best place to plant the seeds was by the side of the apple tree because she knew that was a very sunny part of the garden. She went inside to fetch her dad and together they dug the earth up, planted the seeds and patted the earth back down. Then Lea went to fetch the watering can and gave the seeds a good drink of water. She stood back and felt very pleased with herself. She felt sure that the seeds would grow well and, who knows, they might even grow higher than the apple tree. After the Easter holiday when the children went back to school, Mrs Dodd asked if they had all planted their seeds. Yes, everyone in the class had planted them and now the competition was about to begin. Everyday Lea went into the garden and watered the seeds, looking for the first sign that they were growing, but nothing seemed to be happening. “You’ll just have to be more patient” said her mum “they’ll start to grow in a week or so, you’ll see”. But soon everybody in Lea’s class were talking about how their sunflowers were starting to grow and still Lea’s seeds weren’t growing. “Don’t worry” said her dad, when Lea told him that everybody else’s sunflowers were growing “you wait, they’ll start to grow all at once”. But still nothing happened. Lea was beginning to feel very disappointed especially when Mrs Dodd asked everyone in the class to put up their hands if their sunflowers were growing and Lea was the only one who didn’t put up her hand. When she got back home from school she went in the garden and looked at where she had planted the seeds. It all looked just the same. Nothing was growing. Why was it that all the other children’s seeds had grown but not her’s? It just wasn’t fair. She certainly wouldn’t win the competition. The next day Mrs Dodd said that everybody should start to measure their sunflowers because in a few weeks time who ever had the tallest sunflower would be the winner and get a very special prize. The next few weeks passed quickly and still Lea’s seeds hadn’t grown at all. The big day arrived when everybody in the class had to take in the measurement of their tallest sunflower. All the children were very excited. They were all hoping that they would be the one who won the prize. But Lea wasn’t excited. She felt really sad and told Mrs Dodd that her seeds hadn’t even grown through the earth. All the other children laughed, they thought it was funny. The winner of the competition was a boy that had grown a sunflower that was 6ft tall and poor Lea’s hadn’t even grown a shoot. Lea was really upset about it all and when she got home she went down the garden and stood and looked at the little plot at the side of the apple tree where she had planted the seeds. It was still the same, nothing had grown. “I wish I was magic and could make my sunflowers grow to be the tallest in all the world” she said “but it doesn’t really matter now, because the competition has been won anyway”. Then she went inside to play with her toys. But Lea was about to get the biggest surprise of her life, because the next day when she looked out of the window she could see a sunflower growing at the side of the apple tree. She ran outside to have a look. It wasn’t very big but it had already got a very nice flower on it and it seemed as though it was smiling. Lea was so excited she ran inside and told her Mum. “Well, at least it has started to grow at long last” said her Mum “even if the competition has been won, but I don’t suppose it will grow very big now”. When Lea told Mrs Dodd that her sunflower had started to grow, Mrs Dodd smiled and said “Maybe yours is a different sunflower, Lea, to all the others and it won’t grow as big but it will still be very nice to have in the garden all summer”. Lea was beginning to feel more happier now and when she got back home she went to have another look at the sunflower. It had grown some more since the morning and as Lea looked at it she could see a face on the flower smiling back at her. Was she just seeing things? She called to Tom her brother “Tom, Tom, come over here, can you see a face on this sunflower?” Tom came running up to look but as he did the face disappeared. “Don’t be silly” said Tom “sunflowers don’t have faces” and he ran off. Lea looked at the sunflower again and the face had come back, smiling at her again. Lea stood and looked at it. The smile on the face seemed to be growing bigger and bigger and she could see two eyes and a nose. Then to Lea’s amazement the sunflower winked one eye at her. “Tom, Tom” she shouted “come back quick, it has got a face”. But the same thing happened again. As soon as Tom came running up to look the face disappeared. “Lea, stop shouting me, I’m playing” said Tom “you’re being silly, it’s only the same as any old sunflower, it hasn’t got a face” and off he went to play with his friends. As soon as Tom had gone the face came back, smiling at Lea again. Lea smiled back at the sunflower. Tom was wrong. This wasn’t any old sunflower, it was Lea’s own special sunflower and she suddenly felt very, very happy. Her mum shouted that tea was ready and she went in the house. She looked out of the window at the sunflower but she couldn’t see the face on it now. Maybe Tom was right, perhaps she was being silly. How could a sunflower smile and wink at her. She decided to forget all about it. The next day was Saturday. “No school today” thought Lea as she was having her breakfast. “I’ll go and see if anybody is playing”. But just then her Mum shouted from the garden. “Lea, Lea, come out here and look at your sunflower”. Lea ran outside. What a shock she got. The sunflower had grown even bigger. It was as tall as the apple tree. It was so tall now she couldn’t see if it had got a face on it or not but was so pleased that the sunflower was getting bigger. If it grew anymore it would be bigger than the one that won the competition. The sunflower just kept on growing. It grew and it grew. It was now so tall that the top of it was high up in the clouds. Everybody came to look at Lea’s sunflower. Never had a sunflower grown so big. The newspaper man came to take a picture of Lea standing at the side of it and it was even on the television about Lea’s sunflower which was the biggest sunflower in all the world. Lea wasn’t magic like she had wished, but she had somehow managed to grow the biggest sunflower that anybody had ever grown. When all the fuss was over and everybody had gone, Lea who by now was the happiest little girl in the school, went into the garden and stood looking up at the sunflower. She couldn’t see the top of it, but as she looked up, the sunflower bent over and Lea could see the smiling face again. She went over to it and she could hear it laughing. Then the sunflower suddenly started talking. “Lea, Lea, come closer, I want to tell you a secret” Lea was shocked. The sunflower could actually talk. She went closer and the sunflower had such a happy smiling face that Lea felt like smiling and laughing. “Lea” said the sunflower “I’m a magic sunflower and I can make you magic as well”. Lea just didn’t know what to say. She remembered that she had wished she was magic and could grow the tallest sunflowers ever, but she had never expected her wish to come true. The sunflower started to laugh and as it laughed all golden dust fell onto the floor. It looked just like gold dust. “Lea, rub the dust onto your hands and you will become magic and be able to make everyone happy. Nobody you know will ever feel miserable again”. Then the sunflower winked at Lea and lifted it’s head back up into the clouds. Lea looked down and saw all the golden dust on the floor that had fallen from the sunflower. She bent down and rubbed the dust onto her hands. Straight away all little yellow specks showered all over her and she felt a warm glow on her just as if the sun was shining. She ran into the house and felt so happy she just started to laugh and laugh. Her Mum was cooking the tea and turned round to see what was making Lea laugh. “What are you laughing at Lea” she asked. Lea ran over to her Mum and gave her a big hug and the next minute her Mum was laughing too. She didn’t know why, but she suddenly felt so happy she forgot all about cooking the tea and together Lea and her Mum danced around the kitchen. They just couldn’t stop laughing. Tom came into the kitchen to see if his tea was ready but the same happened to Tom. He forgot all about his tea and danced round the kitchen with Lea and his Mum. All three of them felt so happy they just couldn’t stop laughing. “Whatever is happening in here” said Lea’s Dad as he came in to see if the tea was ready. “Aren’t we going to have any tea today, I’m getting really hungry”. But the next minute Lea’s Dad started to laugh. He didn’t know what he was laughing at either, but he suddenly felt so happy that he forgot how hungry he was and started to dance round the kitchen with everyone else. They all laughed and laughed. They laughed so much and felt so happy. They had never before known so much happiness. What a lovely feeling. They would never again feel miserable. Finally, they all sat down to eat their tea. As they were eating, Lea told them all about the magic sunflower and how it had made her into a very special little girl who could make everybody happy. Lea’s Mum and Dad thought she was making it up and didn’t really believe her, but Lea knew she was special and could make everybody happy and the next day at school she was going to make sure that there wasn’t one miserable face anywhere. Lea couldn’t wait to get to school the next morning to see if she really could make everybody happy like the sunflower had told her. As soon as she went into the playground she ran over to where all her friends were playing. They all seemed happy anyway so it was no good trying to make them happy. Lea looked around the playground and suddenly saw a little girl who had fallen down and was crying. Lea went over to her, touched her hand and straight away the little girl stopped crying and started to smile. She soon forgot all about falling down and started to play again. Next Lea went over to two boys she could see who were arguing and just about to start fighting. She ran up to them and patted them both on the head. The next minute big smiles came across their faces and they were friends again. All day long, every time Lea saw somebody who was unhappy she made them smile and forget their troubles. She felt so pleased with herself. It was true what the sunflower had told her. Nobody she knew was ever going to feel miserable again. She was magic and had the power to stop anybody from feeling unhappy. Lea had a wonderful time all summer. Because she felt so happy everybody she knew felt happy. It had been a long time since she had seen anybody with a miserable face. The sunflower was too tall to be able to see it’s smiling face but everyday Lea went into the garden and gave the sunflower a big hug. It was her very own magic sunflower and now she would always be happy and be able to make everyone else happy. But one day when she was hugging the sunflower it bent down and spoke to her again. “Lea, Lea, come closer I have something very important to tell you”. Lea put her face closer to the sunflower and listened carefully. “It’s getting to the end of the summer and soon I shall start to die, but you mustn’t be sad, you must always stay happy and because you are a very special little girl I want you to plant all the seeds I drop in your garden and next year if you look after them and water them you will have another magic sunflower and you will be able to do lots of other magic things”. Then the sunflower smiled and winked at Lea, and put it’s head back up into the clouds again. The next morning when Lea looked through the window the sunflower had gone. She raced outside to where it had been and there, just as the sunflower had told her was the sunflower seeds. She picked them up and put them very carefully into a paper bag. She mustn’t loose them because when the winter was over she was going to plant them all and one of them would grow into another magic sunflower. She ran back inside the house and felt very, very happy. She would never be sad again and next year when the new magic sunflower grew she would have even more special powers. | Modeschmuck | Englisch Übersetzung | Laptop | | Books on CD | Christmas Gifts | Children's stories mp3 | Children's books mp3 |mp3 audiobooks children | Audiobooks children | Audio Books download Download Audio Books | Digital downloads | childrens audio books |