On a windowsill in the city, in a shiny brass pot stood a plant. It had ivy and fern in two shades of green and primrose with
buds soon to bloom.
Grace, the lady of the house, potted the plant. She spread the roots, smoothed the soil and placed each stem just so. Every day she cared for the plant, trimming and watering, and she turned the pot often so all the leaves got the sun.
Now this potted plant was home to a bug that tended it too, eating the eggs of pests that could harm it. Each day when she cared for her plant, Grace smiled down on Little Grace the ladybug.
The bug however, never felt the warmth of that smile. Little Grace was not a happy bug. For her, time passed slowly. Each leaf took forever to cross. Her potted plant life was tiresome, and the primrose she thought would never bloom. “There must be more than this,” thought Little Grace, and she longed for it.
Above the apartment was a rooftop garden where hummingbirds fed on the nectar of blossoms. Sometimes they perched on
the ledge where Grace’s plant stood.
One day a sleek green hummingbird perched by the window. “If I hop on that bird,” thought Little Grace, “it might take me where things grow wild and free.” Eager for the chance, she spread her tiny wings and fluttered out.
Holding tight to a sleek tail-feather off they flew straight up like a helicopter, then full speed ahead. Over rooftops they soared and across a wide river. Then as far as the eye could see stretched maples and pines in two shades of green – a forest where things grow wild and free. Little Grace let go and fluttered down onto a leaf. There she sat still and long, eyes wide in wonder. She knew this place! But how?
Then slowly, truth dawned. Each tree was positioned just so in soil that was evenly smoothed. The roots were perfectly spread, and the trees were shaped like they'd just been trimmed. All the leaves got the sun and glistened now with moisture from the rain. “In the wilderness,” marveled the bug, “everything is just so and is cared for every day.” All she had yearned for had been there all along.
Perched there on that leaf, in that very moment, a new life began for Little Grace. She knew where she belonged now and what she had to do.
The hummingbird’s nest was not far away. Little Grace flew there, lighted on a branch and waited through the night. Morning brought a return trip home.
When the sleek green bird rose up, Little Grace was on board. As she'd come, so she returned to the window ledge and
fluttered back to her plant on the sill.
Later that day when Grace cared for the plant she was happy to see her helper. “Where in heaven have you been?” she asked, smiling down as always. But this time Little Grace felt the warmth of that smile, and knew for the first time that she was cared for too.
From that day on Little Grace felt the kind smile and tended her plant with loving care. It thrived, and soon the primrose bloomed in the radiant warmth of the sun.