🌻 The Seed That Grew

Barnaby the cat found a seed. It was stripy and small, and it looked a bit like a tiny cat's tail. "What do I do with you?" he asked.

"Plant it," said the old gardener, Mrs. Fig. "Give it soil, water and sunshine, and be patient."

So Barnaby dug a little hole with his paw, popped the seed in and covered it with soil. Then he poured on some water. Splash! "Grow, please," he said politely.

The next morning, he ran outside. Nothing. The next morning, nothing again. "Maybe it's shy," said Barnaby.

He kept watering it. The rain helped too. The sun shone warm. And on the seventh day, a tiny green shoot poked out of the ground, with two little leaves like hands waving hello.

Barnaby was so excited that he did a happy dance around it. Every day it grew taller. Taller than the grass. Taller than Barnaby. Taller than the fence!

Then one morning, at the very top, a huge yellow flower opened up, round as the sun. It was a sunflower! Its face turned to follow the sun across the sky. The bees buzzed around it, and the birds came to visit.

At the end of summer, the sunflower was full of new stripy seeds. Barnaby gave some to the birds, and saved some for next year. "One seed made a hundred seeds," he said proudly.