The Patient Prank Plant — By the tall apartment window, Tessa set a thimble of water beside her succulent and waited for it to do something worth writing in her nature notebook. Read the full story →
By the tall apartment window, Tessa set a thimble of water beside her succulent and waited for it to do something worth writing in her nature notebook. The plant sat in its pot like a green crown, quiet as a secret. Outside, buses hissed on wet pavement, and inside, the soil smelled dusty and warm. Tessa tapped her pencil. “Any big plans?” she whispered.
All week, she visited after school. A new leaf loosened by a tiny bit. A sunbeam slid across the rim. The pebbles made soft tick-tick sounds when the radiator clicked on, and Tessa began to write those down too. On Friday, she noticed one pebble was not a pebble. It wore a speck of lint like a hat and was slowly pushing another pebble into a smiley face.
“About time you noticed,” said the pebble, in a voice like two grains of sand giggling. It was a pill bug, round and pleased with itself. The succulent had not been boring at all; it had been hosting a very small comedy show. Tessa laughed so hard the sunbeam shook on the glass. Next time you see that quiet rosette by the window, check the pebbles first—one may be waiting for applause.
