Seeds of Chance

SEEDS OF CHANCE
WRITTEN BY SUE RAYMOND
One day when Gramma was picking me up from school she noticed tear stained cheeks. She sat me down in the kitchen chair going wetting the corner of her dish towel washing the tear streaks away.
“Why are you so blue? What happened today that has you so far down in the dumps?” She made such a silly face as she asked me it made me smile just a little. “That’s a bit better,” Gramma rose going getting our afternoon snack.
She sat beside me as we ate a nice snack of fruit, cheese, and crackers with a large glass of milk. I was feeling better by the time we finished. At the sink, Gramma asked me again what happened handing me a plate to dry. At first I did not want to tell her but finally after more prodding I began.
“Gramma, remember at church when the pastor told us about how the Lord created the earth and everything?”
Gramma nodded her head, “Yes, go on,” she answered sitting down drawing me upon her lap.
“Well today at school the teacher was telling us that the earth and everything on it happened by chance. When I raised my hand telling them that wasn’t true and told them all about the Lord creating the earth. Gramma, she got really red in the face and told me to stop talking nonsense. She said there wasn’t a god and there was no way for me to prove otherwise. Then she put me in timeout and all the kids laughed at me.” I hung my head.
“Well, well, well, now let’s think this one over a bit.” Gramma hugged me.
We sat there for a while as she kept me in her hug. When I am in one of Gramma’s hugs things never look as grim as they did before. She suddenly smiled the widest smile I ever seen asking me if I wanted to do an experiment with her to test out the teacher’s theory of chance.
“Sure!” I piped not knowing how Gramma was going to try to prove something the teacher said was unprovable.
The next weekend Grampa and Gramma picked me up and we went to a special store called a nursery. There were so many pretty flowers and plants there.
As I walked through the plants thoughts of a beautiful jungle sprang in my mind. Soon I was lost in this jungle all alone. I crept along among the dark shadows trying to find my way when suddenly I heard something rustling in the thick bush I was exploring. What could it be? Was it some sort of wild beast coming to eat me? The sound came closer and closer. I hide behind a plant with large wide leaves. Closer and closer the sound came smaller and smaller I tried to make myself.
Suddenly Grampa jerked me up in the air from behind as his head popped through the plant’s leaves crying, “Got yah!”
I screeched, “Something’s got me!” then looked down seeing Grampa’s smiling face realizing I had been muttering out loud about my jungle adventure.
“Are you done exploring so we can finish our shopping?” Grampa laughed bringing me down setting me in a large shopping cart among several bags of dirt and fertilizer.
Gramma searched through all assorted flats of flowers before choosing several flats of flower plants setting them in the cart beside me. Next she went over to the gardening tools picking out a small shovel, rake, hoe, and a pair of work gloves just my size.
After we paid for our items the clerk placed the tools and gloves in a bag just for me. The rest went in a large box Grampa tote out to the car.
We went back to their house taking the stuff into the back yard. Gramma stood in the middle of the yard with her hands on her hips searching for something then glanced up at the sky then back to the yard.
I started to search also even though I did not know what we were searching for because I want to be helpful. I got down on my knees searching through the grass. I searched one way then another finding only a few marbles I lost last week, an ant carrying a piece of potato chip from the picnic we had, and two or three grasshoppers.
I was trying to catch one when suddenly I head Gramma call out, “Stop! That is the perfect place for our experiment.”
I glance around me seeing that I was in one of the sunny spots in the yard.
“Yes, this will do very nicely. It isn’t in the way and there will be plenty of sunlight for our experiment.” She shook her head as Grampa went over to the tool shed getting out some twine, sticks, and other tools bringing them over laying them beside me.
Grampa walked marking off two spaces in the sunny spot laying a stick at each corner of the plots. I held the sticks steady as Grampa hammered them securely in the ground. He tied the twine to one of the sticks having me slowly unwind the twine to the next stick.
As I unwound the twine my imagination took me to the dark jungle with me being a lineman stringing important cable so the electric could get to the hospital in time so they could perform the serious operation on the chief’s son I muttered. I was walking backward so the cable would not get tangled in the undergrowth. I knew the job was extremely dangerous but this was the only way to get it done in time. I had to get the cable strung, had to push ahead, the chief’s son was counting on me to get the cable through.
Suddenly I heard a twig snap behind me freezing me to the spot. Another twig snapped and I heard a low growl. I slowly stepped backward continuing my task. Without warning something pounced on my back hissing and growling as I felt sharp claws digging into my shoulder.
I dropped the twine falling to my knees screeching, “A lion’s got me!” waving my hands over my head to keep the lion from biting my head off. Over my screeching I heard Grampa and Gramma bursting with laughter.
I stopped screeching glancing up in time to see my uncle’s cat, Shy Sky, racing off for the house. I accidentally stepped on her tail.
Grampa finished stringing the twine as Gramma checked my shoulder to make sure I was not hurt. I had only one small scratch on my left shoulder. I helped Grampa and Gramma dig up, hoe out all the grass and pebbles out of the spaces. We sat down to rest with Gramma brought us out some cookies and ice cold milk to wash them down.
“Now for our experiment,” Gramma explained, “Both of these spaces for all practical purpose are the same, right?”
I looked over at Grampa for reassurance. He nodded yes so I agreed.
“I need you to choose one of the spaces that will be Chance’s and the other will be ours. Each plot will receive the same number of flowers planted in them. We will take care of our plot and Chance will take care of the other. We will see which plants do the best. The best plants will win the experiment.”
I raised going over examining the plots making sure they were identical first before choosing the right side for us and the left for Chance while Grampa finished his cookies. He rose as I pointed to Chance’s plot picking up the first small pot of flowers out of the flat. He started planting the flowers as Gramma and I prepared our side. First Gramma had me dig a small amount of dirt out of our space for her to test with a special box of vials of liquid placing it on a strip of paper that turned several different colors. I watched in amazement at what she was doing. She put some fertilizer on our plot mixing it in with the rake. Next she added peat moss mixing it in as well with a large sprinkling of granular pebble objects. Then she tested the dirt again smiling at the results this time.
“It is time to plant. Go get the garden hose so we can water the flowers as we plant them, please.” Gramma pointed to hose attached to the house.
I ran over to the hose hanging on a wheel on the house. I turned on the spigot grabbing the nozzle end of the hose starting back to Gramma. About midway back the hose started acting funny. First it wiggled then it wiggled harder and harder in my hands. It was as if it became alive!
I spied the hose nozzle suspiciously wigging in my hands. Was it really a watering hose or had it turned into a large hideous boa constrictor wrapping its coils tightly around my body?
“Hold onto that imagination. We’ve had enough adventure for one day. Besides, you better not get Gramma wet or she’ll skin us alive then we won’t get any dessert tonight.” Grampa called turning the water pressure down.
I giggled running the rest of the way back to Gramma. She took the hose laying it beside her. She had me dig small holes in the dirt making sure that they were spaced the same among from each other. We carefully planted the flowers in the holes.
“Now I’ll give them a nice gentle drink of water to get them started off on the right foot.” She raised turning on the nozzle to a light spray watering our flowers.
I giggled, “Gramma you’re funny. Plants don’t have feet. They have roots.”
“Well,” Gramma chuckled, “then I better water you because you’re growing like a weed,” spraying the hose at me. I screeched with laughter running for the safety of Grampa.
We put the tools away then went into the house to help Gramma fix supper. Gramma decided we would have chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, milk and for dessert a nice large bowl of strawberry sherbet. I was standing on stool at the sink washing the potatoes looking out the window at the flower plots when I realized Gramma didn’t give Chance’s flowers some water.
“Gramma, you forgot to give the other plants some water.” I informed her.
She stood at the stove stirring the pot of chicken and noodles. Her brow knitted thinking it over, “No, I gave each of our plants a nice drink counting as I went so I didn’t miss any.”
“Yes you did Gramma. Chance’s plants didn’t get any water.” I corrected her.
Grampa just sat at the table with a twisted grin. Gramma stopped stirring the pot looking over at me sternly. “If Chance wants the plants to be water then Chance better make it rain. We cannot help Chance out or the experiment will be ruined.” She pointed her spoon at me.
I agreed but I began to wonder and worry about the other plants. Each day after school Gramma picked me up and we took care of our plants. We watered and kept the grass and weeds out of our plot. Our plants sure like the attention we were giving them. They grew all most eighteen inches tall when it happened. There was an invasion of mean bugs from Chance’s overgrown plot. They were coming over in a steady stream out of the tangled mass of vegetation. Chance was trying to cheat!
I ran for the house screaming, “Help, help! Gramma, Chance has invaded our plot with bugs.”
Gramma and Grampa quickly ran out investigating what kind of bugs they were. I asked Gramma if she could stop the bugs. She gave me a reassuring hug then sent Grampa and me to the store for chewing tobacco.
At the store I asked Grampa why Gramma wanted to chew tobacco when she doesn’t even like the smell of smoking tobacco. I thought Grampa’s sides were going to split wide open with laughter. After Grampa got control of himself he explained Gramma wasn’t going to chew it she was going to use it to make insecticide to get rid of the big bug invasion.
When we arrived at home Gramma had already started making the insecticide. She placed green tea and green dish soap together. We handed her the chewing tobacco and she placed a large wad in the pot with water heating the mixture. Boy, did it smell yucky. She added some other ingredients that I cannot remember before placing it in a special bottle that fits on the end of the hose.
She raised the bottle over her head calling out, “Okay, let’s get rid of an invasion!” running out placing the bottle on the hose.
We followed her and I turned the water on then ran over to see if the insecticide was working. Gramma started on the far side of the plot slowly working her way toward Chance’s plot. You should have seen those bugs run for cover in the tangled mass of Chance’s space. Gramma made sure she sprayed right along the edge between out plots making an impenetrable barrier of insecticide.
When she finished we went over starting to cleanup the after mass carefully checking each plant leaf making sure no bug was hiding under a leaf. We threw away the causalities of the invasion.
“That was a close call no real damage done to our plants. It was a good thing you caught the massive bug invasion in time or our plants might have been really hurt. You did a good job spotting them.” Gramma praised me patting my shoulder. “The experiment will soon be over.”
After two more weeks Gramma announced that it was time to measure the plants and see who won the theory of chance. Grampa was the judge. He got out the yard stick holding it up to his shoulder marching out to the two plots with Gramma and me falling in behind him.
“Okay, which side do I measure first?” Grampa asked in his official judge voice.
“OURS Grampa, OURS!” I yelled jumping up and down with excitement.
“All right but do not think you’ll get any favors just because you’re my grandchild and she is my honey.” Grampa snorted sternly, however there was a twinkle in his eye.
Oh Grampa, you’re silly,” I told him climbing on his back for a closer look as he knelt down to measure our flower plants.
“MMM… thirty-six inches tall, eighteen inches across, one, two, and three… sixteen to twenty very large beautiful flowers per plant on your side. Now let’s see how Chance fared.” Grampa mumbled.
Grampa turned to Chance’s plot. All we saw at first was weeds and more weeds. Grampa pulled on his long gardening gloves he uses for real hard work. He started pulling weed after weed in search of Chance’s flower plants. He cleared half of the space clean to the ground before finding one. He carefully cleared the weeds away starting examining the area for the rest. He cleared the whole space finding three very scrawny bug chewed little plants and not one of them had even a single flower bud on it.
“Well,” Grampa pulled off his gloves placing them in his hip pocket, “it doesn’t look like much of a contest but here are the measurements, eight maybe eight and a quarter inches tall, two...two and half inches across. Well that cinches it; you and Gramma win the experiment. Chance loses.” Grampa congratulated us shaking our hands.
Gramma brought out her large basket and gardening shears kneeling down starting cutting flowers from our plants placing them in her basket. I helped her.
She smiled saying, “Now you know that if no one would take care of things on earth everything would turn to chaos.”
I thought for a couple of minutes placing the flowers in the basket, “Gramma, what about the wild flowers and the trees in the forest no one takes care of them?”
Gramma rose going in the house making two large boutiques quietly answering me. “The Lord Does,” handing me the boutiques, one for Mommy and one for my teacher.