Cousins -- Fiction; Prince Edward Island -- Fiction; Storytellers -- Fiction
“I won’t ever feel like reading a single book in the library if I can’t
give something to it,” mourned Sara.
Dan and the girls and I were sitting in a row on Aunt Olivia’s garden
fence, watching Felix weed. Felix worked well, although he did not like
weeding--“fat boys never do,” Felicity informed him. Felix pretended not
to hear her, but I knew he did, because his ears grew red. Felix’s face
never blushed, but his ears always gave him away. As for Felicity, she
did not say things like that out of malice prepense. It never occurred
to her that Felix did not like to be called fat.
“I always feel so sorry for the poor weeds,” said the Story Girl
dreamily. “It must be very hard to be rooted up.”
“They shouldn’t grow in the wrong place,” said Felicity mercilessly.
“When weeds go to heaven I suppose they will be flowers,” continued the
Story Girl.
“You do think such queer things,” said Felicity.
“A rich man in Toronto has a floral clock in his garden,” I said. “It
looks just like the face of a clock, and there are flowers in it that
open at every hour, so that you can always tell the time.”
“Oh, I wish we had one here,” exclaimed Cecily.
“What would be the use of it?” asked the Story Girl a little
disdainfully. “Nobody ever wants to know the time in a garden.”
I slipped away at this point, suddenly remembering that it was time to
take a dose of magic seed. I had bought it from Billy Robinson three
days before in school. Billy had assured me that it would make me grow
fast.
I was beginning to feel secretly worried because I did not grow. I had
overheard Aunt Janet say I was going to be short, like Uncle Alec. Now,
I loved Uncle Alec, but I wanted to be taller than he was. So when Billy
confided to me, under solemn promise of secrecy, that he had some “magic
seed,” which would make boys grow, and would sell me a box of it for ten
cents, I jumped at the offer. Billy was taller than any boy of his age
in Carlisle, and he assured me it all came from taking magic seed.
“I was a regular runt before I begun,” he said, “and look at me now. I
got it from Peg Bowen. She’s a witch, you know. I wouldn’t go near her
again for a bushel of magic seed. It was an awful experience. I haven’t
much left, but I guess I’ve enough to do me till I’m as tall as I want
to be. You must take a pinch of the seed every three hours, walking
backward, and you must never tell a soul you’re taking it, or it won’t
work. I wouldn’t spare any of it to any one but you.”
I felt deeply grateful to Billy, and sorry that I had not liked him
better. Somehow, nobody did like Billy Robinson over and above. But I
vowed I WOULD like him in future. I paid him the ten cents cheerfully
and took the magic seed as directed, measuring myself carefully every
day by a mark on the hall door. I could not see any advance in growth
yet, but then I had been taking it only three days.
One day the Story Girl had an inspiration.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account