EARLY SPRING: 

            The garden stirred slowly, it was quietly waking up after a long winter’s sleep. It could feel the snow receding and the warmth of the spring sun on its soil.  The first signs of new growth were happening slowly just under the soil. Weeds and flowers were stirring, their roots pushing carefully through the still chilly underground. In a day or two, the first green tips of the stem and leaves would poke through the ground. “Ah,” thought the garden, “another growing season will soon be under way.” The humans that tended it would soon return. Ths garden missed them over the winter. It especially missed Sara; she understood the garden and it's moods. Sara knew where and when to plant flowers andvegetables in the garden to get the best results. The garden wondered too, what Sara would look like this year. She had been very small the first time the garden had seen her, and she was full of delight as she smelled the flowers and tasted the vegetables. The first few years, a bigger human had helped her care for the garden. Then one spring she appear alone and much taller. The garden heard her exclaim, "Mum said I can start working in the garden by myself this year!" Sara had proven to be very skilled in tending the garden over the years, except the garden wished she didn't pull up all the weeds! "How wastful," though the garden. "She could be using those weeds to feed  the other humans."........................