Just a few Little Things

“Eat a flower, eat a flower, little beetle…” sang Betty, giving primrose to a mysterious creature she had met three seconds ago.

“Bring a flower, Betty, bring it here…” dared her mommy Suzie, “… you need five of them to make a tea”.

Then a white butterfly flew by. Betty instantly dropped the flower and stuck her eyes to that magical thing dancing in the air.

“Fly, fly, tiny butterfly….” sang little girl, not caring about anything else…

She had been collecting flowers for more than half an hour without taking any to the basket — it was an ordinary evening on a blooming alpine meadow. But that day, she really wanted primrose tea so she didn’t give up.

Betty picked up the flower and started to run…

After three steps she had stumbled over a stone and fell to the ground. Tears were coming to her eyes but she didn’t drop the primrose.

She almost started to cry when a snail, slowly slithering through the grass, showed up in front of her eyes: “Eat a flower, eat a flower, little snail…” sang Betty, getting back on feet, instantly forgetting about her tears.

Cuck-oo, cuck-oo — charming tune coming from the trees smoothly flew into her ears. “Cuckoo… that is cuckoo….” shouted Betty, looking at her mommy, collecting flowers nearby. Then she remembered: “To the basket – to the basket bring primrose…” she grasped it and started to run.

Then she stopped. A bee flew around her twice and swooped down on the bloom in her hands: “Eat a flower, eat a flower, little bee…” sang Betty, looking at the buzzing object tirelessly reaping pollen from the bloom.

“Bring a flower, Betty, bring it here…” dared her mommy again.

But the light breeze had blown in a cobweb and it stuck on Betty’s face. She dropped the flower and started to wipe the sticky fiber off her eyes. The sun was slowly vanishing below the horizon and she was running out of time — the bloom closes after sunset and can’t be collected anymore. If she misses, there’s no tea for her today.

Betty knew it, but she was so enchanted by the cobweb on her hands that she couldn’t think about anything else. Magical tangle of sticky fibers reflecting the sunlight hold her attention for a few moments, until her eyes spotted mommy few feet away.

“To the basket – to the basket bring primrose…” she grasped the flower and started to run again. When she finally made it, the only thing to do was to put the flower in.

But she didn’t…

“Eat a flower, eat a flower, little Dotty…” sang Betty, giving primrose to her little sister Dotty…

The sun had vanished and flowers closed their blooms. She hadn’t collected any that day, but it didn’t matter anymore. All those little things she had met, they made a really big day for her.

Cuckoo went silent and bees stopped buzzing; butterflies quit dancing and snails hid in their tiny shells, the blooming meadow went sleeping and my girls went home — to make a primrose tea for all.