Lily sat on her bed with the cardboard box she'd recieved in the mail and had been waiting anxiously for the last month.
In the back of her favorite comic book,"The Scallywag's Journal" about a pirates adventures, she'd seen a small ad selling peanuts. It read:
"Magic peanuts!! Plant them in your yard and watch them grow! Send $1.95 to Mr.Ionue, P.O. Box 725, Tampa, Florida 33605-1518. Allow six weeks for shipping and handling. (Please do not eat the peanuts )."
So Lily had sent her one dollar ninety-five cent money order for magic peanuts. Now, finally, she had her mysterious package.
She had made the mistake of mentioning her secret purchase to her freind Rachel. Rachel was the only other girl in her neighborhood close enough to play with, but was not the best friend anyone could wish for. For no reason she would turn on Lily and say the meanest things or push her and laugh when she fell to the ground. But she was the only other girl around to play with and most of the time she and Rachel got on fine.
While they were sitting in the big oak tree that grew in Rachel's backyard, one they had nailed many boards to in order to build places to sit comftorably, she said to Rachel,"I bought something out of the back of my comic book." Rachel smirked and said,"What did you buy this time? An original Samurai sword?" and laughed at her own insult. Lily felt stung by the comment, and embarassed. "No,"she said sullenly,"I bought some magic peanuts." Rachel jumped down to the ground off the lower branch she'd been sitting on and rolled around overdramtically clutching her ribcage, laughing and mocking Lily.
"Bah hahahaha! Magic Peanuts! Oh my god!! Lily, you're the dumbest girl in the world! Magic Peanuts!!".
Lily climbed down out of the tree and walked past Rachel to go home, leaving her laughter as far behind her as she could. But the memory of Rachel's laughter came back to her mind as she stared at the bag inside the cardboard box on her bed.
"Well, they might be magic. It only cost a dollar ninety-five if they're not." she said reassuringly to herself.
Next to the bag was a small white slip of paper with handwriting on it. Lily held it between her hands and read.
"These are truly magic peanuts. Please do not eat them. Please plant them in a place where the least damage may be done, as the growth cannot be predicted. Thank you for your purchase. Mr. Ionue."
Lily read nothing into the warning, too excited by the word 'magic' to pay attention. She decided she would plant the peanuts in the far cornor of her backyard, under the shade of a sycamore tree.
Bag in hand, Lily crossed through the kitchen towards the back door, trying not to be noticed by her mother who was cleaning the stove top. But her mother noticed her and said,"Lily, where have you been? What's that in your hand?". Lily stopped and without looking at her mothers face she said,"I was over at Rachels playing." and headed towards the door again, ignoring the second question that had been asked of her. Her mother turned back towards the stove, placated by Lily's answer.
Using a small hand shovel, Lily dug a trench about three feet long into the ground. She placed the peanuts an inch apart, and then brushed the loose dirt back over the top of them. Then she used a small watering can to soak them in and just to make sure she wouldn't forget the spot, she stuck a tiny stick with a peice of bubble gum wrapper stuck to it in the ground, and walked away.
She'd only taken five or six steps when she felt the ground shudder under her feet. She turned to look at her plantings and before she could process what was happening, millions of butterflies burst forth from the soil like a massive cloud of thick smoke roiling into the air.
Glued in place, astounded and awed, Lily was soon covered in butterflies from head to toe. She shook them off of her and ran for the house, bursting through the back door and yelling at the top of her lungs,"Momma come look, come look!! My magic peanuts turned into butterflies and they're all over the backyard! They landed on me but I shook them off you have to come look!"
Her mother, completely unphased and responding very dully to Lily's shouting, turned and looked down at her daughter. "Lily, dear, you've really got to stop this constant story tellng of yours. Now go wash those filthy hands and get ready for dinner."
Lily was deeply disturbed by her mothers lack of enthusiasm and sense of wonder. She tried harder to appeal to her mother. "Mom, just come look! Hurry up before they all fly away." Her mother sighed and walked over to the kitchen window, looking through the glass and into the yard where hardly anything grew. And there was nothing there now except the evidence of Lily's childlike attempts at gardening.
She turned to her daughter, who was looking up at her with tremendous anticipation in her eyes for her mother's response. The kind of look a parent never wants to disappoint. Since Lily's father had died, life had been so hard for her. She knew a part of her daughter was coping by turning her mind to fantasy. A dimension and place where anything was possible and hopes and dreams did not die. She reached out and pushed her daughter's long golden hair behind her small little ear and gently lied. "I'm sorry Lily, I just didn't move fast enough. I think they've all flown away."
Lily's face turned to a grimace. "You didn't see even one of them Mom?" Her mother quickly looked back out the window. "Well, maybe one. But I can't be sure. In any case, they all seem to be gone now." And she paused then asked her,"How do you suppose that many butterflies came to be?" Part of her hoped Lily would be honest, confess that she was just telling stories. Instead Lily said,"I bought some magic peanuts. The kind you can't eat. I planted them in the ground and like two seconds later - boom! They came swarming up out of the ground. They were beautiful too Mom. Like glittery bright red and yellow and blue. And big too. Big as my fist."
Lily turned to leave the kitchen but stopped and said,"You do believe me don't you Mom?" Her mother sighed and said,"Of course I do honey. I only wish you would think about saving your money for other things. Like a new bike or toy of some kind." Lily knew by her mothers answer that she did not, in fact, believe her. She was humoring her again. It made her heart droop and she would resolve not to trust her mother anymore with her secrets. Now she lied to her mother too. "Yeah, ok Mom. No more magic peanuts."
As she walked back up to her room, she whispered out loud,"I know you beleive me Daddy." as she looked at his picture that hung on the wall of the staircase. He nodded at her with a big smile and all the belief in the world she needed and said,"Yes sweetheart, I do. Now go wash your hands like your mother said, and come talk to me about those butterflies afterwards. I'll be out by the sycamore tree, OK?."
"OK Dad."
posted by .. @ 7:43 AM
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