Ma's Special Seeds

The seeds rattled as Thomas shook the old wooden box. His fingers, dirty from working up the backyard, shuffled through the brightly colored packages.

"Lemme see here," he mumbled to himself. "I got me some radishes and carrots and a bit 'o beans. Where's me cabbage?" His thick, white brows pressed together as he frowned, until one long fingernail snagged an envelope half-hidden behind the rest.

"Ah, these are them seeds Ma saved, years ago." Tears welled in his eyes as he remembered his mother putting in the yearly garden, her stout back bent over the fertile dirt.

"They prob'ly ain't no good anymore," he muttered, spilling a few of the seeds into one work-worn hand. "Still, won't hurt none to try'em out."

Thomas's deft fingers poked a hole in the soil. His mother's seeds fell in one, two, three spots. With a gentle pat, Thomas blanketed the seeds with dirt.

"There ya go, little fellas," he said with a grin."And now for a drink of water." He marched off to fill the watering can.

"Well, ain't you an eager little thing?" his eyes widened in surprised delight when, on his return, three new stems had sprouted from the ground. Thomas's jaw dropped as the plants doubled and then tripled their growth in front of his eyes. Within moments the cabbages were fully ripe.

"Well, I'll be—" Thomas's fingers trembled as he pulled back a cabbage leaf and found a pair of blue eyes blinking up at him. Swallowing back his disbelief, he tore open the other two vegetables to find two more sets of eyes watching him. He lifted the first baby from its snug home and cradled the naked infant in his arm.

"Triplets!" he chuckled. "Now I know where Ma got me baby brothers!"



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Written for: Daily Flash Fiction
June 9th Prompt: Write a story that includes someone planting a garden that grows something they did not expect.
Word count: 297