Grab Bag Writing Challenge - March 2016
- clover - envy - fresh - garden - grass - Irish - jade - luck - mint - nature - plant - recycle - spring - vegetable - wealth -
by Arianna Stonewater
One cold, March morning, I found myself clicking picture after picture on Pinterest and drooling with envy. Things have been so dreary lately. We had a beautiful December and then January, Jonas hit; it's been cold ever since! The lush grass looked so inviting, riddled with clover and dandelion. It was really something to behold! As I clicked through the related pins, the nature pictures changed to plants and gardens. Despite being a Slytherin, I don't have a green thumb. I've killed every plant I've been given for my office, even a cactus! My cactus got moved to the shelf near the heater while I was cleaning my desk and I forgot about it... for two months. I once tried a rock garden, but I kept knocking it off my desk.
Soon the pins were indoor potted plants with mint and herbs. I've always wanted to grow my own, but with my luck I could probably only grow the most hardy of vegetables. Then I began to see recycled planters with "Happy St. Patrick's Day" and other Irish themed designs, which reminded me that I should probably update my signature in the HOL forum. I still had the snake with the Santa hat; my beautiful Princess Aurora was used everywhere else, but I just kept forgetting to change it there. Maybe a fresh signature was just what I needed to bring some sunshine to my day!
So I did a search using the words "jade," "forest green," "silver" (have to show off my Slytherin Pride!), "snapdragons" (my favorite flowers), and "spring." My search returned a wealth of pins that would suit my needs. Now to figure out which one I like best that also still looks good when it's signature-sized!
One cold, March morning, I found myself clicking picture after picture on Pinterest and drooling with envy. Things have been so dreary lately. We had a beautiful December and then January, Jonas hit; it's been cold ever since! The lush grass looked so inviting, riddled with clover and dandelion. It was really something to behold! As I clicked through the related pins, the nature pictures changed to plants and gardens. Despite being a Slytherin, I don't have a green thumb. I've killed every plant I've been given for my office, even a cactus! My cactus got moved to the shelf near the heater while I was cleaning my desk and I forgot about it... for two months. I once tried a rock garden, but I kept knocking it off my desk.
Soon the pins were indoor potted plants with mint and herbs. I've always wanted to grow my own, but with my luck I could probably only grow the most hardy of vegetables. Then I began to see recycled planters with "Happy St. Patrick's Day" and other Irish themed designs, which reminded me that I should probably update my signature in the HOL forum. I still had the snake with the Santa hat; my beautiful Princess Aurora was used everywhere else, but I just kept forgetting to change it there. Maybe a fresh signature was just what I needed to bring some sunshine to my day!
So I did a search using the words "jade," "forest green," "silver" (have to show off my Slytherin Pride!), "snapdragons" (my favorite flowers), and "spring." My search returned a wealth of pins that would suit my needs. Now to figure out which one I like best that also still looks good when it's signature-sized!
by Ashley Margaret
Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Arielle who loved vegetables more than anything else in the world. She simply could not imagine a more delicious food. Her best friend Ryan simply did not understand her obsession with these plants, so Arielle decided that she needed to show him just how awesome they are.
One spring day, Arielle took Ryan out to her garden. What she saw when she looked at her garden were ripe and delicious vegetables – juicy red tomatoes, carrots as orange as the sun, crisp mint, and peppers as green as an Irishman. What Ryan saw was grass and dirt. He did not envy Arielle’s garden even a bit.
Every day Arielle took Ryan out to the garden, hoping that he would change his mind upon seeing the fresh vegetables. However, Ryan’s jaded attitude towards the garden simply would not change. No matter what Arielle said to try and convince Ryan that the vegetables in her garden were great, she had no such luck persuading him and soon felt that all her arguments were simply being recycled from day to day.
One day, while Arielle and Ryan were standing out by Arielle’s garden, Arielle was observing the nature in her backyard and noticed a four-leaf clover on the ground. Suddenly a miracle happened! Ryan finally saw the wealth that came from vegetables! From that day forth, Ryan and Arielle shared a common love for vegetables and spent hours every day tending to their garden.
The end.
Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Arielle who loved vegetables more than anything else in the world. She simply could not imagine a more delicious food. Her best friend Ryan simply did not understand her obsession with these plants, so Arielle decided that she needed to show him just how awesome they are.
One spring day, Arielle took Ryan out to her garden. What she saw when she looked at her garden were ripe and delicious vegetables – juicy red tomatoes, carrots as orange as the sun, crisp mint, and peppers as green as an Irishman. What Ryan saw was grass and dirt. He did not envy Arielle’s garden even a bit.
Every day Arielle took Ryan out to the garden, hoping that he would change his mind upon seeing the fresh vegetables. However, Ryan’s jaded attitude towards the garden simply would not change. No matter what Arielle said to try and convince Ryan that the vegetables in her garden were great, she had no such luck persuading him and soon felt that all her arguments were simply being recycled from day to day.
One day, while Arielle and Ryan were standing out by Arielle’s garden, Arielle was observing the nature in her backyard and noticed a four-leaf clover on the ground. Suddenly a miracle happened! Ryan finally saw the wealth that came from vegetables! From that day forth, Ryan and Arielle shared a common love for vegetables and spent hours every day tending to their garden.
The end.
by February Fortescue
Jaden and her new friend Arminta had their feet propped up on the couch after eating pizza and watching the newest horror movie to come out on DVD. Spring had arrived and the rain had ended. Jaden could smell earthworms and freshly mowed grass. Birds were chirping and nature was busy bringing the plants back to into bloom.
“Are you going to plant a vegetable garden this year?” Arminta asked.
“No, of course not. Why would you ask something crazy like that?”
“Well, my mother's friends continuously ask her about her gardening plans, so I thought everyone planted one here.”
“OH,” Jaden replied, “I forgot, you're not from around here. You're Irish. Well, here, people like to plant all sorts of vegetables, water them, fertilize them, and battle rabbits and deer to protect them, rather than simply walk into a grocery store and purchase them, like most normal folks. You'll have to get used to that kind of thing. Myself, I'm not quite that crazy yet. ”
Jaden saw the Arminta's eyes light up. “Ah!” Arminta replied. “So it's like the time I discovered Passion Pit's Sleepyhead and couldn't stop laughing because the group had sampled Mary O'Hara and people thought she was singing, Please Unicorn Eat Tacos With Me, when in truth she was singing about a little boat sailing into the west!”
“Uh, yes, that's it exactly, Arminta!” Jaden nodded. “It may make no sense to me, but I nod as if it makes all the sense in the world. Get it? They also think four leaf clovers will bring you luck and wealth. They won't! You know which plant will, though? Ginseng! Ginseng will bring $850 to $1200 per pound and that plant grows naturally here. A half-acre of ginseng can be worth as much as $100,000 after five or six years. That's where the money really is. And my mom wants to grow carrots. CARROTS!! As if some really big orange veggie will make her the envy of all her friends and neighbors.”
Jaden finished her diet soft drink and tossed the can in the trash. “Wait!” exclaimed Arminta. “Aren't we supposed to recycle?” After a glance from Jaden, Arminta quickly changed her mind. “Oh. Right. What's the next movie?”
Jaden and her new friend Arminta had their feet propped up on the couch after eating pizza and watching the newest horror movie to come out on DVD. Spring had arrived and the rain had ended. Jaden could smell earthworms and freshly mowed grass. Birds were chirping and nature was busy bringing the plants back to into bloom.
“Are you going to plant a vegetable garden this year?” Arminta asked.
“No, of course not. Why would you ask something crazy like that?”
“Well, my mother's friends continuously ask her about her gardening plans, so I thought everyone planted one here.”
“OH,” Jaden replied, “I forgot, you're not from around here. You're Irish. Well, here, people like to plant all sorts of vegetables, water them, fertilize them, and battle rabbits and deer to protect them, rather than simply walk into a grocery store and purchase them, like most normal folks. You'll have to get used to that kind of thing. Myself, I'm not quite that crazy yet. ”
Jaden saw the Arminta's eyes light up. “Ah!” Arminta replied. “So it's like the time I discovered Passion Pit's Sleepyhead and couldn't stop laughing because the group had sampled Mary O'Hara and people thought she was singing, Please Unicorn Eat Tacos With Me, when in truth she was singing about a little boat sailing into the west!”
“Uh, yes, that's it exactly, Arminta!” Jaden nodded. “It may make no sense to me, but I nod as if it makes all the sense in the world. Get it? They also think four leaf clovers will bring you luck and wealth. They won't! You know which plant will, though? Ginseng! Ginseng will bring $850 to $1200 per pound and that plant grows naturally here. A half-acre of ginseng can be worth as much as $100,000 after five or six years. That's where the money really is. And my mom wants to grow carrots. CARROTS!! As if some really big orange veggie will make her the envy of all her friends and neighbors.”
Jaden finished her diet soft drink and tossed the can in the trash. “Wait!” exclaimed Arminta. “Aren't we supposed to recycle?” After a glance from Jaden, Arminta quickly changed her mind. “Oh. Right. What's the next movie?”
by Leonie Hauri
Lillian loved flowers. She loved rubbing the soft petals between her fingers, planting and watering the seeds, and picking fresh flowers every morning to twine in her hair. Her garden was the envy of the neighborhood – a queen among wilting vegetables, dying grass, and thriving weeds. She was the one who came home with the blue ribbon every spring, and she was the one the others turned to for gardening help. She had the lucky touch, they said, but she knew it wasn't luck that gave her prize-winning daffodils. It wasn't even knowledge or experience. It was wishes.
Ten years ago, when Lillian had started gardening, she was hopeless. Her daisies died, her snapdragons wilted, and her petunias shriveled. Weeds were the only thing that reliably grew in her so-called garden: wild clover and dandelions and even wild mint. She didn't know a hose from a watering can or why the acidity of soil mattered. She didn't have the proper equipment, just a watering can she should have recycled long ago and a rusty shovel. She loved flowers, even then, but was hopeless at growing them.
It was around then that the man came. The magical man.
Usually, in fairy tales, magical, wish-granting persons were generally disguised as old ladies or gypsies; sometimes as genies in magic lamps or occasionally even as fairies. Someone did a great kindness to a stranger and the stranger was then revealed to be a magical being that could grant wishes and all was well.
This man was none of that. He was certainly no stranger to her: Jason McDonnell, a young man with Irish roots, who had lived in the neighborhood for some time. An aimless sort of man, who depended on his father's wealth to get anywhere in life: he had never worked a second of his life. She had never much liked Jason, so she immediately became suspicious when he showed up at her front door.
"Hello, Miss Weston," Jason said as she opened the front door. He pushed past her into the living room, settling into a lounging position on the sofa. "I've come to make you an offer."
"An offer," Lillian repeated, eyeing the man who she hadn't exactly invited in dubiously. "What kind of offer?"
"Here's the deal," he said, casually taking a bottle of soda from the coffee table. "Some lady showed up at my door yesterday and told me to do something with myself. I told her I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself and she had a fit. Told me I needed to help the people around me and whatnot, so she took some stick-looking thing and made me a fairy or something. Now I can grant wishes, but if I don't grant ten wishes by next week this lady says she's going to cut off my father's money. So just tell me what you want and we can work something out here."
Lillian blinked. "You're... giving out wishes?"
He sighed. "Yes. Sure. Just tell me what you want. A pretty jade necklace? Done. A new car? It's yours. Just tell me something, anything, and let's get this over with, shall we?"
Lillian was quite taken aback. "A wish," she said slowly, trying to think of what she could want. There were millions of things she could wish for and any one of them would give her great satisfaction. In the stories, people always knew exactly what they wanted, but she wasn't certain at all, if she even believed this man. "How about..." Lillian's mind scrambled for something she truly wanted. World peace? An end to world hunger, perhaps? Or something like money, jewels, a mansion, a new car, or... "A garden," Lillian blurted. "I want my garden to be beautiful every year. I want it to grow and flourish without any weeds whatsoever. I want the perfect garden. I wish for it."
Jason frowned. "A garden," he said disdainfully. "Very well. A garden. Ta-da, your wish is granted, blah blah blah. Have a nice day and all that." Taking the soda bottle with him, he left just as bored-looking as he arrived.
Lillian hadn't been certain the whole wish thing would work, but sure enough, after that, Lillian's garden was the eighth wonder of the world. Her garden was seen as being nature at its finest, and everyone in the town spoke of it with pride. And if anyone happened to ask Lillian what her secret was, she would simply smile and say, "Oh, you know. I just have the magic touch."
Lillian loved flowers. She loved rubbing the soft petals between her fingers, planting and watering the seeds, and picking fresh flowers every morning to twine in her hair. Her garden was the envy of the neighborhood – a queen among wilting vegetables, dying grass, and thriving weeds. She was the one who came home with the blue ribbon every spring, and she was the one the others turned to for gardening help. She had the lucky touch, they said, but she knew it wasn't luck that gave her prize-winning daffodils. It wasn't even knowledge or experience. It was wishes.
Ten years ago, when Lillian had started gardening, she was hopeless. Her daisies died, her snapdragons wilted, and her petunias shriveled. Weeds were the only thing that reliably grew in her so-called garden: wild clover and dandelions and even wild mint. She didn't know a hose from a watering can or why the acidity of soil mattered. She didn't have the proper equipment, just a watering can she should have recycled long ago and a rusty shovel. She loved flowers, even then, but was hopeless at growing them.
It was around then that the man came. The magical man.
Usually, in fairy tales, magical, wish-granting persons were generally disguised as old ladies or gypsies; sometimes as genies in magic lamps or occasionally even as fairies. Someone did a great kindness to a stranger and the stranger was then revealed to be a magical being that could grant wishes and all was well.
This man was none of that. He was certainly no stranger to her: Jason McDonnell, a young man with Irish roots, who had lived in the neighborhood for some time. An aimless sort of man, who depended on his father's wealth to get anywhere in life: he had never worked a second of his life. She had never much liked Jason, so she immediately became suspicious when he showed up at her front door.
"Hello, Miss Weston," Jason said as she opened the front door. He pushed past her into the living room, settling into a lounging position on the sofa. "I've come to make you an offer."
"An offer," Lillian repeated, eyeing the man who she hadn't exactly invited in dubiously. "What kind of offer?"
"Here's the deal," he said, casually taking a bottle of soda from the coffee table. "Some lady showed up at my door yesterday and told me to do something with myself. I told her I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself and she had a fit. Told me I needed to help the people around me and whatnot, so she took some stick-looking thing and made me a fairy or something. Now I can grant wishes, but if I don't grant ten wishes by next week this lady says she's going to cut off my father's money. So just tell me what you want and we can work something out here."
Lillian blinked. "You're... giving out wishes?"
He sighed. "Yes. Sure. Just tell me what you want. A pretty jade necklace? Done. A new car? It's yours. Just tell me something, anything, and let's get this over with, shall we?"
Lillian was quite taken aback. "A wish," she said slowly, trying to think of what she could want. There were millions of things she could wish for and any one of them would give her great satisfaction. In the stories, people always knew exactly what they wanted, but she wasn't certain at all, if she even believed this man. "How about..." Lillian's mind scrambled for something she truly wanted. World peace? An end to world hunger, perhaps? Or something like money, jewels, a mansion, a new car, or... "A garden," Lillian blurted. "I want my garden to be beautiful every year. I want it to grow and flourish without any weeds whatsoever. I want the perfect garden. I wish for it."
Jason frowned. "A garden," he said disdainfully. "Very well. A garden. Ta-da, your wish is granted, blah blah blah. Have a nice day and all that." Taking the soda bottle with him, he left just as bored-looking as he arrived.
Lillian hadn't been certain the whole wish thing would work, but sure enough, after that, Lillian's garden was the eighth wonder of the world. Her garden was seen as being nature at its finest, and everyone in the town spoke of it with pride. And if anyone happened to ask Lillian what her secret was, she would simply smile and say, "Oh, you know. I just have the magic touch."
by Meredith Malkins
Spring is the season of pastels. The pretty pinks, bold purples, bright blues, pure whites, delicate yellows, and, oh, the greens! Spring brings with it a wealth of the most beautiful greens! Spring is the time when the shades of emeralds and jades can be found in even the poorest and shabbiest of gardens, mixing with the hues of Irish clover and little mint plants by the fence line. The wonders of Mother Nature are endless all year round, but in spring she always seems to outdo herself. Jewels among plants, fairies in the grass, luck abounding in a world of sadness, and all the possibilities in the world brought by fresh new things. Spring wouldn't be any of those things, wouldn't be itself, without green. Green means protection, health, good times, rainbows after storms, and food, and that symbolism is everywhere from the trees to the vegetables to the recycling sign!
Green is by far the most important and symbolic of all the colours, though one can say many things with that colour. Those who would have you believe green is the colour of envy are clearly envious themselves, for they want to keep such a glorious and undervalued thing to themselves. But they cannot, and no-one can, because spring is as fleeting as all things in life, and as it goes, so too does all the colours, even the greens. Do not despair though, for it is only to make room for the magnificent hues of summer, including many more greens among the yellows and browns. Shades of green are present in all the seasons if only we looked. But none of them can ever come to par with the variety and beauty of the greens in spring.
Spring is the season of pastels. The pretty pinks, bold purples, bright blues, pure whites, delicate yellows, and, oh, the greens! Spring brings with it a wealth of the most beautiful greens! Spring is the time when the shades of emeralds and jades can be found in even the poorest and shabbiest of gardens, mixing with the hues of Irish clover and little mint plants by the fence line. The wonders of Mother Nature are endless all year round, but in spring she always seems to outdo herself. Jewels among plants, fairies in the grass, luck abounding in a world of sadness, and all the possibilities in the world brought by fresh new things. Spring wouldn't be any of those things, wouldn't be itself, without green. Green means protection, health, good times, rainbows after storms, and food, and that symbolism is everywhere from the trees to the vegetables to the recycling sign!
Green is by far the most important and symbolic of all the colours, though one can say many things with that colour. Those who would have you believe green is the colour of envy are clearly envious themselves, for they want to keep such a glorious and undervalued thing to themselves. But they cannot, and no-one can, because spring is as fleeting as all things in life, and as it goes, so too does all the colours, even the greens. Do not despair though, for it is only to make room for the magnificent hues of summer, including many more greens among the yellows and browns. Shades of green are present in all the seasons if only we looked. But none of them can ever come to par with the variety and beauty of the greens in spring.
by Riliey Starshine
Amy pushed the door open with her elbow while trying to maintain her balance and not drop the bag of glass bottles she was carrying out to the recycling bin. She walked around to the side of the house, knelt down, and gently set the bag inside the little plastic box. As she stood up, the crisp, fresh scent of mint hit her nostrils. She looked over at her neighbors house and saw the newly budding, jade-green leaves on the mint bushes. Amy had always been so envious of her neighbors yard. With it's brightly colored flowers and emerald-green grass, most of the neighbors were a little jealous. By comparison, Amy's yard looked awful, her lawn was still brown and yellow from winter, that is, apart from a rather large clump of clovers that had taken over the whole northeast corner. "At least the weeds are green," Amy thought to herself as she walked inside.
Amy woke the next day a little later than she normally would have. It had been raining all night and the sound of water dropping into the pan she had placed on her bedroom floor had kept her awake. She tried to remember the dream she had just awoken from, but couldn't quite remember the details. She knew it had something to do with nature, perhaps she had been in her neighbors yard? Maybe it was the dream or maybe it was just the spirit of Spring itself, but Amy had woken up with more motivation than she had in years. She didn't like how her yard looked, so she was going to change it. It was as simple as that. Today Amy was going to plant a vegetable garden.
Amy opened the door, shovel in hand. It was early and although the rain had stopped and the sun was shining, the air was still full of fog. She headed over to the clovers and thought that she saw something brightly colored standing in the middle of the patch. She stopped suddenly, but as her eyes adjusted, she saw it was only a rainbow that had formed in the mist. The end of the rainbow led right to the center of the clovers, of course, as she walked closer, it disappeared from her vision, but she started digging out the clovers right where the rainbow had ended.
Her yard was even more brown after she had dug up all the clovers. But the freshly uncovered soil was the perfect spot for her new garden and she knew that by the end of summer the large patch would be full of not only color, but delicious food too. With this in mind, she pushed the shovel back into the dirt as far as it would go, lifted and turned the shovel upside down to let the dirt fall back to the ground. If she was going to have a successful garden, the ground had to be soft enough for the roots to grow. She turned several more shovelfuls of dirt, before she started noticing something gold and shiny in the dirt she was digging up. At first she thought they were rocks, but as she dug up a few more shovelfuls, she came to the realization that rocks could not be perfectly circular. She put the shovel aside and knelt down to inspect the shiny objects. What she picked up was a coin of some sort. It had what looked like a rainbow on one side and a top hat with a buckle on the other side. It looked like it was made out of gold and it was heavy enough that Amy could tell it wasn't just painted plastic.
"Well it looks like it's your lucky day!" Said a man's voice with a thick Irish accent from behind her. Startled, Amy spun around, still holding on to the odd little coin. She had expected the man to be much taller, but he was at least two feet shorter than herself.
"Excuse me?" she replied after a second, not knowing why the man was there or if she had heard him correctly before.
"You found my gold. That means you get to keep it!" The man said pointing up at the coin, "You're now wealthier than you have ever dreamed," he said and made a gesture to indicate Amy to look behind her. She turned and saw a pile of the coins that was almost as tall as the strange man himself.
"You- you're a- l-leprechaun?" Amy managed to ask as she turned back to the man, but the man had vanished. Amy was left to collect the gold from her front yard. It really was her lucky day after all.
Amy pushed the door open with her elbow while trying to maintain her balance and not drop the bag of glass bottles she was carrying out to the recycling bin. She walked around to the side of the house, knelt down, and gently set the bag inside the little plastic box. As she stood up, the crisp, fresh scent of mint hit her nostrils. She looked over at her neighbors house and saw the newly budding, jade-green leaves on the mint bushes. Amy had always been so envious of her neighbors yard. With it's brightly colored flowers and emerald-green grass, most of the neighbors were a little jealous. By comparison, Amy's yard looked awful, her lawn was still brown and yellow from winter, that is, apart from a rather large clump of clovers that had taken over the whole northeast corner. "At least the weeds are green," Amy thought to herself as she walked inside.
Amy woke the next day a little later than she normally would have. It had been raining all night and the sound of water dropping into the pan she had placed on her bedroom floor had kept her awake. She tried to remember the dream she had just awoken from, but couldn't quite remember the details. She knew it had something to do with nature, perhaps she had been in her neighbors yard? Maybe it was the dream or maybe it was just the spirit of Spring itself, but Amy had woken up with more motivation than she had in years. She didn't like how her yard looked, so she was going to change it. It was as simple as that. Today Amy was going to plant a vegetable garden.
Amy opened the door, shovel in hand. It was early and although the rain had stopped and the sun was shining, the air was still full of fog. She headed over to the clovers and thought that she saw something brightly colored standing in the middle of the patch. She stopped suddenly, but as her eyes adjusted, she saw it was only a rainbow that had formed in the mist. The end of the rainbow led right to the center of the clovers, of course, as she walked closer, it disappeared from her vision, but she started digging out the clovers right where the rainbow had ended.
Her yard was even more brown after she had dug up all the clovers. But the freshly uncovered soil was the perfect spot for her new garden and she knew that by the end of summer the large patch would be full of not only color, but delicious food too. With this in mind, she pushed the shovel back into the dirt as far as it would go, lifted and turned the shovel upside down to let the dirt fall back to the ground. If she was going to have a successful garden, the ground had to be soft enough for the roots to grow. She turned several more shovelfuls of dirt, before she started noticing something gold and shiny in the dirt she was digging up. At first she thought they were rocks, but as she dug up a few more shovelfuls, she came to the realization that rocks could not be perfectly circular. She put the shovel aside and knelt down to inspect the shiny objects. What she picked up was a coin of some sort. It had what looked like a rainbow on one side and a top hat with a buckle on the other side. It looked like it was made out of gold and it was heavy enough that Amy could tell it wasn't just painted plastic.
"Well it looks like it's your lucky day!" Said a man's voice with a thick Irish accent from behind her. Startled, Amy spun around, still holding on to the odd little coin. She had expected the man to be much taller, but he was at least two feet shorter than herself.
"Excuse me?" she replied after a second, not knowing why the man was there or if she had heard him correctly before.
"You found my gold. That means you get to keep it!" The man said pointing up at the coin, "You're now wealthier than you have ever dreamed," he said and made a gesture to indicate Amy to look behind her. She turned and saw a pile of the coins that was almost as tall as the strange man himself.
"You- you're a- l-leprechaun?" Amy managed to ask as she turned back to the man, but the man had vanished. Amy was left to collect the gold from her front yard. It really was her lucky day after all.
Lucky Charm - by Sapphire Riddle
Seven-year-old Minnie sat on the fresh grass in the garden, absentmindedly picking at the clovers. It was spring and nature was all around her. A great wealth of plants was bursting from every crevice – mint, daisies, the vegetables she had planted with her father the week before – everything was so NEW!
"Minerva!" called her mother. "Come and look at what your father sent you!"
Minnie sprang up and ran inside the cottage. "What is it?" she asked, curiously looking at a small, black velvet box, her two younger brothers crowding round as well.
"Open it and see!" laughed her mother. It took Minnie a minute or so to open the box, as it was very, very stiff. But it was worth the effort, as when she finally did open it, she saw something that made her brothers' eyes go green with envy.
It was a jade necklace. A necklace so green that it would make an Irishman look positively celadon.
"Do you like it?" asked her mother.
"Of course I do! It's beautiful!"
Her mother smiled. "Your father said in his letter that it brings good luck to all that wear it."
"Try it on!" begged her youngest brother. "Please!" Minnie looked at her necklace, then at her brother. With a flick of her wrist, the necklace flew up and latched itself around her neck.
It was a moment that she would never forget, not even when she became Headmistress of Hogwarts.
Seven-year-old Minnie sat on the fresh grass in the garden, absentmindedly picking at the clovers. It was spring and nature was all around her. A great wealth of plants was bursting from every crevice – mint, daisies, the vegetables she had planted with her father the week before – everything was so NEW!
"Minerva!" called her mother. "Come and look at what your father sent you!"
Minnie sprang up and ran inside the cottage. "What is it?" she asked, curiously looking at a small, black velvet box, her two younger brothers crowding round as well.
"Open it and see!" laughed her mother. It took Minnie a minute or so to open the box, as it was very, very stiff. But it was worth the effort, as when she finally did open it, she saw something that made her brothers' eyes go green with envy.
It was a jade necklace. A necklace so green that it would make an Irishman look positively celadon.
"Do you like it?" asked her mother.
"Of course I do! It's beautiful!"
Her mother smiled. "Your father said in his letter that it brings good luck to all that wear it."
"Try it on!" begged her youngest brother. "Please!" Minnie looked at her necklace, then at her brother. With a flick of her wrist, the necklace flew up and latched itself around her neck.
It was a moment that she would never forget, not even when she became Headmistress of Hogwarts.