The Dandelion Who Wanted To See The World

glowing dandelion seed overlooking field

Once there was a dandelion who wanted to see the world.

It may seem strange to you that a dandelion should have such notions. But consider her situation. A small circle of leaves in the middle of a large lawn, and all she had ever seen was the dirt beneath, a forest of grass all around, and a patch of sky above her. This didn't satisfy her.

She didn't know what else there was to see, but she was sure there must be something. She was determined that sooner or later she would discover it for herself. And she certainly tried.

The thought naturally came to her quite early that she should grow her leaves above the surrounding grass. Then she would be able to see whatever there was beyond her immediate neighbourhood. And this she tried to do..

But every week something terrible happened.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr . . . . . . .And then suddenly the mower comes to life.

Those were the sounds that brought awful fear to the heart of the dandelion. For a while the noise would keep its distance: Brrrrrrrrrrrr . . . . ..

Then it would come close and very loud: BRRRRRRRRRRRR . . . . . Then it would move off again. But always, at last, it would happen. A shadow would suddenly come over her. There would be a whirring and a smashing and a mangling in the midst of incredible noise. A second later, when it was over, her leaves were gone, and she had been chopped back to the level of the ground.

It was a dreadful experience.

For two days afterwards the dandelion was in a state of shock. Then, when she began to get her wits back, she said to herself: "Why do I bother?" But then she would take courage and begin all over. She would send up young leaves and try again. She thought to herself that it had to be worth it

And then, one particular week, it didn't happen. The horrible noise didn't start up. Her leaves were allowed to grow higher than they had ever gone before.

The reason for that, though the dandelion didn't know it at the time, was that the family whose yard she was living in, had gone off for their summer holiday. All she knew was that this time no dreadful shadow descended on her to chop and crush and mangle her, reducing her back to the soil.

The dandelion believed she had a chance and that she could still do it. So she did.

She pushed her leaves higher with excitement and determination. It was then she saw things that she had never seen before. She saw other growing things besides blades of grass. She saw flowers in beautiful colours. She saw shapes that we would recognise as fences and sheds and houses. It was all very exciting, even if it was a little bit hard for her to understand.

With great daring, she then began to do something she had never done before, something she had only just realised she could do. She sent up a stem with a bud on the end.

"Goodness," she thought, "I'm going to have a flower! I wonder what colour it will be!" When the flower opened she found it was a beautiful golden yellow, and she was pleased.

Now she could see all sorts of things, and she just wished she could go to explore them more closely. The fence, the house, the flowers, even moving things - butterflies and birds, cars passing beyond the fence. It was all very strange, and a bit confusing. But it was wonderful.

After a while the petals of her flower began to dry up, shrivel, and fall away. But the dandelion didn't mind that. Because she suddenly realised there was something else she could do, something else she could become, just as lovely in its own way as the flower.

Soon, on the end of the stem where the flower had been, there was a marvellous round, white, fluffy ball. The once blossomed flower of hers had now turned to seed.

The dandelion was delighted!

But meanwhile, just then the family came back from holiday.

"Goodness!" Father said, as he stopped the car in the driveway. "The very first thing I must do is put the mower through the lawn."

"Oh look!" said one of the children, "There's a dandelion!" She ran over.

The dandelion found herself plucked from the ground and lifted up higher than she had ever imagined she could go.

The child blew... and the dandelion's downy seeds danced away on her breath, flying higher still and spiralling up upon the soft summer winds.

And the dandelion was free at last, free to travel in a hundred directions.

She was off to see the world, finally experiencing what she had always dreamed of and knew she could.

http://www.dunedinmethodist.org.nz/archive/diff/ddln.htm