The Little Potato

         Once upon a time, long ago in a faraway land, there lived a scraggly potato plant with one lonely little potato.  The little potato was happy in the dark earth with its friendly warm dirt.  Yet, the little potato wondered why it was.
         One day, as the little potato was wondering away, an earthworm happened along.  Having no eyes, the earthworm hit its head on the little potato.

“Ouch!” said the earthworm.  “What are you?  Are you here just to get in the way?”
“I’m sorry,” said the little potato, “but I don’t know why I am here.  I just am.”
“Well, if you serve no use, why are you here?”

   
         With that the earthworm wriggled away.

         From that day forward, the little potato decided to serve some use, but did not know what use to serve.

         Then one day, the little potato was trying to find itself and something started to move it.  Suddenly the little potato found itself . . . on top of the ground. 

“Where am I?” the little potato wondered.  “I am afraid.”

         Soon a man came and picked up the little potato.  The little potato was very afraid now, but the man’s hands were warm.

“Well, thank God for you, little potato.  You are the only one that lived,” the man said as he carried the little potato into his house.

         

“I wonder why he is thanking God for me.  I didn’t do anything,” the little potato thought.

 

         The man put the potato on a box that served as a counter and left the room.  A few minutes passed as the little potato pondered what the man had said.  Just then, a rat entered the room and crawled onto the box.

“Hello,” said the little potato.
“Be quiet,” the rat snarled as it began to sniff the potato.
“Hey! What are you doing?” asked the little potato.
“I’m going to eat you,” said the rat.
“Why? I didn’t do anything to you,” cried the little potato.
“Of course you didn’t, but that is what you are for.  God made you to be eaten,” the rat stated as it opened its mouth.
“Hey!” the man shouted as he came back into the room.  The rat scurried away.

The little potato became sad.  “Why did God make me to be eaten?  Do I have to die?” the little potato cried.
At that moment, the man picked up the potato.  “You are small, but you will help my child live one more day.  You, little potato, are a life saver.”

When it heard that, the little potato stopped crying.  “I was born to save someone’s life?  Well, I have to die someday anyway.  I will be happy to die to save a life.”

       
   
         The little potato was just enough to make one small bowl of potato soup for the farmer’s child.  It was the little potato that saved a child's life.