Lily's Pesky Plant (6 page)

L
ILY LAY ON
a soft patch of moss in the corner of her garden. All day long her garden had bustled with activity as fairies dropped by to pick fruit from the Ever tree. The cooking-talent fairies needed several of the fruits to make a special dessert. The healing-talent fairies wanted to see if the fruit could be used to treat illnesses. And hungry fairies from all the talents came by to get a snack.

Lily loved having all the visitors. But now she was tired. She wanted nothing more than to relax on the moss and watch the grass grow.

She had just spotted a blade of grass that needed her attention when a shrill voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Goodness, what a day!”

Lily closed her eyes and sighed. Then she sat up and said, “Hello, Iris.”

Iris plopped down beside Lily on the moss. “What a day I’ve had!” she declared. “I’ve been around to five different gardens today. All the garden fairies want me to write about their gardens. I’ve had to add more pages to my book.”

She held up her book, which was fatter than ever.

“And the other fairies! Every little seed they find, they bring to me. They think it’s another Ever tree. Of course, they’re all just ordinary flower seeds.

“But don’t worry, Lily,” Iris went on, “I made sure to save time for you. Now, tell me about your marigolds.”

She opened to a blank leaf in her book and set her writing splinter on the page.

Lily frowned, confused. “What about them?” she asked.

“Why, they’re so golden! They should be called
more
-igolds, don’t you think?”

Iris laughed at her own joke.

And this time, Lily laughed along with her.