Short Story: Happy Plant

Jasmine embarks on a quest to make her plant grow in time for the school's Spring Show.

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It couldn’t have been a worse day for Jasmine. The sun was up, sparkling through her 

window. Mum was making pancakes in the kitchen; she could tell because of the buttery-sweet smell wafting up the stairs. And, worst of all, the big Spring Show at school was tomorrow.

Jasmine felt dizzy just thinking about it. Her class had been preparing for weeks: 

making tissue-paper flowers, learning some old poem about daffodils, and growing flowers from tiny seeds for the annual gardening contest. The trophy was magnificent – one of those plastic gold ones with climbing ivy wrapped around its handles. It would be the perfect addition to her awards shelf, which was already overflowing with trophies, medals and rosettes. There was just one tiny problem.

Jasmine had no flower; in fact, her seed had barely begun to sprout. It was just two

green leaves and a bulb that was firmly shut. She’d tried everything she could think of: fresh soil, sunlight and shade, fancy water bottled from the mountains, everything. Her plant refused to grow, and without it, she had no hope of winning the Spring Show trophy. She stared sourly at it, sad and flowerless. 

‘Come on, Plant,’ she said. ‘Grow!’

She had to find a way.

Jasmine dashed to her Mum’s computer and began to type furiously. How to make 

plants grow FAST! On the screen, a website flashed up. It featured photos of spiny cacti, giant lilies, and lush flowers in every colour you can imagine.

happyplant.com

The Secret to Making Plants Grow Fast!

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The real secret to fast growing plants? LOVE!

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‘Love,’ muttered Jasmine. ‘That can’t be so hard.’ 

She rushed upstairs to grab Plant and bolted straight for the front door, completely forgetting her pancakes. She had one day to pour weeks of love into her little plant – she didn’t have time to waste.

Jasmine dashed down Raymond Street, past Alfie’s house. Alfie was the clumsiest kid

in her class, and she doubted his seed had survived a single day before being squashed. But as she passed, she saw a bright yellow daffodil in his bedroom window. Next, she turned down Luke Road and waved at the twins Molly and Maisy. Molly was so forgetful that her seed was probably left to sprout on the schoolbus, and Maisy was so fond of fizzy drinks that she’d probably been watering hers with lemonade – but there in the window were two matching red poppies. She hid Plant behind her back, hoping the girls didn’t see.

‘Hmm… where to?’ Jasmine asked when the twins were out of sight. ‘We could go to the park, see a film, go swimming…’ 

It was then that a breeze rustled Plant’s leaves and blew them sideways, so that their 

tips pointed across the street. There was a poster on the wall which read:

Funfair: Grand Spring Opening!

‘A funfair!’ Jasmine gasped. ‘That’s perfect. Good spot, Plant!’ 

And off they went.

The funfair was bustling. Parents took their little ones for spins in giant teacups, gangs 

of boys crashed into each other on the dodgems, and teenagers loitered by the haunted house (too frightened to go in, but too cool to admit it). Jasmine and Plant moved through the crowd, considering each ride. Which one would Plant find the most fun?

‘Ooh, how about the log flume?’ Jasmine suggested. ‘Plants do love water.’

They bought two tickets and hopped in. As the log flume coasted through the water and dropped down a huge slide, Jasmine cheered and screeched. She tucked Plant under her jacket before the big SPLASH so he wouldn’t get wet, which meant her clothes got soaked, but she didn’t mind.

Next, they ventured into the mirror maze and followed its twisty-turny path. They 

passed mirrors that made them look tall and spindly, short and squat, and even one that made their bodies curve around in a spiral pattern. Jasmine held Plant up to each one, taking special care to show him the one that made him look giant. 

‘That’s going to be you soon,’ she said. ‘If I love you hard enough, you’ll be big and green and flowery! You’re going to be the most beautiful plant at the Spring Show.’

In the reflection of the mirror, Jasmine saw Plant’s leaves droop sadly. When they left the maze, the sun was beginning to set behind the hot dog and candyfloss stalls.

‘Let’s do one more,’ Jasmine said. This was her last chance: if she wanted Plant to flower, this would have to be the most fun he’d ever had. Across the funfair, she could see something huge and dark twisting up into the sky. It was the shadow of the Big Dipper, the biggest ride of them all. 

The rollercoaster trundled slowly up, up, up. Jasmine felt like she could reach out and 

touch the clouds, and they weren’t even at the top yet! Plant was shivering in his pot beside her. They carried on rising up, up, up. Now there was nowhere to go but over the ridge and down the impossibly steep drop.

‘Are you ready, Plant?’ asked Jasmine. And then they were over: dropping rocket-fast, hurtling down the track! Plant’s leaves blew up in the wind and Jasmine stuck her arms up too. She was panting and laughing as they reached the bottom. She shouted over to the operator to let them go again. 

‘No can do, miss,’ he said. ‘It’s almost seven – we’ll be closing soon.’

Jasmine put Plant down on a bench and sat beside him. She carefully rearranged his 

leaves and checked him all over – no change. No flower. 

‘I’m sorry, Plant,’ she said. ‘I didn’t love you enough. We’re never going to win the Spring Show prize.’

They sat together and watched the funfair’s lights flickering off one by one. Jasmine’s jumper was still damp from the log flume and her hair was a mess. She sniffled quietly, then said:

‘Even though you didn’t grow, I still had fun with you. It doesn’t matter that you’re not the greenest, or the biggest, or the most beautiful. The other kids will laugh when they see us, but I don’t care. You’re my friend, and I’ll still love you even if you stay as a little sprout forever.’

She couldn’t bear to look at him because her face was red and her eyes full of tears. The last of the funfair’s lights went off, and Jasmine knew it was time to go home. 

‘Okay, come on then, Plant. We have to –’

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her vision was blurry with tears, but it seemed like… was that… 

‘Plant! You’ve got a flower!’

It was the tiniest shoot, but it was a flower all right. To Jasmine, it was the prettiest flower in the world.

The Spring Show was a roaring success. There was music, poetry, and of course the 

gardening competition. Each plant was placed on the stage and judged for size, leaf shape and overall floweriness. 3rd Place went to clumsy Alfie, whose daffodil was in a cracked pot mended with cellotape. Joint 2nd went to Molly and Maisy’s pretty poppies (Molly had nearly left hers at home, and Maisy’s was suspiciously sticky). And 1st Place? Well… Jasmine never found out who won. She’d snuck out of the hall to the school garden and sat with Plant in the sun. Between the lavender and the chives there was a warm spot that was perfectly Plant-sized, and her uniform was covered in mud as she dug out a hole.

‘There we go,’ she said. Plant waved happily in the breeze, outside in his new home. ‘I’ll come and visit you every week. And next year, I’ll take you back to the funfair.’

Plant couldn’t wait – as long as he didn’t have to go on the Big Dipper again.