Gus and the Giggle Seed — Every day, Gus nipped stray leaves from the flower arch before the bellbirds woke, keeping the tulips tall and the daisies facing straight ahead. Read the full story →
Every day, Gus nipped stray leaves from the flower arch before the bellbirds woke, keeping the tulips tall and the daisies facing straight ahead. The courtyard smelled like wet stems and peppery pollen, and Gus liked the soft snip-snip of order. Until one day, his teeth bumped a round lump hidden inside the fattest vine curl. “That is not a leaf,” he muttered.
Because of that, he poked it with one claw. Pfft! A seed popped out, bounced off his nose, and burst into a sneezy golden dust that made every blossom hiccup. Because of that, the tulips bowed, the daisies wiggled, and the vines spelled rude little loops in the dirt. Gus tried to look stern, but a laugh rolled out so huge that three beetles fell off a stem.
Until finally, Gus stopped trimming and called the bellbirds, beetles, and shy garden mice to watch. He tapped the seed again, and the whole arch shivered with shared chuckles. Next time you spot Gus among the curling vines, see if you can find the sneaky round place where the peppery pollen first went pfft.
