Whispering to the green leaves

A small curtain was stretched in front of the classroom to block the sun. Some parents had put up a trellis of green plants together. Small, pretty pots of all kinds of cacti, succulents, lotus, spider lilies... were planted in recycled plastic bottles, painted in many colors and hung in front of the classroom. A "curtain" of plants of all shapes and sizes, green and cool to the eyes, especially enough 38 pretty pots for 38 members of the class to take care of.

- You can register to receive your own tree. The only condition is that once you receive it, you need to love and take good care of it - Ms. Thuy gently reminded.

The whole class clapped and cheered. They agreed to name the hanging garden in front of the classroom the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which sounded cool as if every day in class they would get to see the wonder of the world right next to them. The recess bell rang, and the quickest kids ran to the toilet in front of the tall, healthy green trees. The slower kids were a little upset because their trees were smaller than their friends'.

- It's okay, just take care of the plant properly, praise and thank it every day, and it will grow quickly - Ha Linh said, in her hand was a slender clump of spider plants, which looked a bit like a weed.

There was a burst of laughter:

- What a lie! It's a tree, not a baby, why do you praise it?

Being a shy girl, Ha Linh rarely talked to her friends, but this time, she suddenly spoke in a long breath.

- That's for sure. My grandmother said so. All the trees in her garden are very beautiful, with lots of fragrant flowers and sweet fruits. My grandmother praised and thanked the trees every day.

- I believe it, I watched a movie, they said, long ago there was a tribe that didn't know how to use axes to cut down trees. To cut down a tree, people would go around cursing it every day, and then the tree would fall down by itself - Nhan interrupted.

The boys burst out laughing: “What nonsense!” Ha Linh looked at Nhan and smiled. It didn’t matter. Whether one more person believed it or not, she still thought it was true as her grandmother said, the trees loved to hear kind words.

* * *

Ha Linh's grandmother left the city for the forest more than 10 years ago. She retired and built a small house on a low hill. The hill's soil had been eroded by years of wind and rain, leaving only rocks and gravel. She had to carry each bag of soil by hand, add fertilizer, and gradually improve it. Then, she nursed each sapling and sowed each seed. She considered each tree as a child that needed to be cared for and could not bear to leave it. She only returned to the city when there was an important event at home, or on Ha Linh's birthday.

In my grandmother's garden, there are trees with the strangest shapes in the world. Have you ever seen a papaya tree with a back as hunched as a grandmother's, but still able to bear dozens of ripe fruits? That tree was once battered by a storm and thought it could not be saved. My grandmother comforted, talked to, and encouraged it. She praised each new shoot on the tree trunk, each new flower, each new papaya fruit... And just like that, it miraculously revived.

Every time she visited her grandmother, Ha Linh still followed her to the garden to chat with the irises, immortelle, roses, and daisies... "Thank you for blooming. You are a wonderfully beautiful flower." That whisper was sent to the flowers in her grandmother's garden that Ha Linh met. She also sent thanks to the green tea leaves still wet with night dew that the two of them had just picked from the branches. She didn't know if the flowers and leaves understood, but they were very fresh and colorful, the green tea was clear and delicious. Strangely, after a leisurely morning with her grandmother in the garden, whispering to the leaves and flowers, listening to the birds chirping, the little girl also felt joy rising softly in her heart. Since her parents separated, Ha Linh rarely saw her mother laugh out loud anywhere, except on the days she returned to her grandmother's garden. Her mother's laughter mixed with the sound of wind chimes ringing in the garden was a sound more beautiful than any music Ha Linh knew.

* * *

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon class enters the summer sun.

Some of the plants had become barren, and the fragrant lotus plant, still half withered and half fresh, had begun to turn a pale yellow. The gentle fragrance of the lotus had disappeared without a trace. That was Hieu’s plant, and the other day he had conveniently poured a bowl of leftover soup into it.

- Oh my god, plants can't live when the soil is salty, have you forgotten?

- I don't think it's salty, just a little leftover soup - Hieu argued.

Ha Linh heard the arguing. Without saying a word, her friend quickly poured a glass full of water and sprayed it with water, hoping to wash away the soup she had just poured into it. “Sorry, sweet lotus. Keep up the good plant.” The leaves of the plant gradually turned yellow, wilted, and fell off. It turned out that Hieu had not only poured soup into it once, but the third time, the previous two times no one had noticed. Every time she watered and talked to her little fairy, Ha Linh would walk over to Hieu’s plant, add some nutrients, and send a loving message. Sometimes, Ms. Thuy happened to be walking behind her and heard Ha Linh ask: “Hey baby, are you feeling better today?”, she would also laugh and walk away quietly.

Ha Linh’s pot of spider lilies began to sprout tiny buds the size of chopsticks. Then, from those small, pale pink buds, they gradually turned brighter. One morning, from the bushes that looked like wild grasses, bright pink flowers bloomed, shining brightly in front of the classroom door, making the girls look over and admire. Ha Linh began to feel sad when she looked at the fragrant lotus plant. The leaves gradually withered, leaving only a few wispy ones.

When there was almost nothing left to hope for, suddenly from the tree trunk sprouted lovely buds. The buds exuded a familiar scent on the thin fragrant lotus branch.

- Look, you're so right Ha Linh, the trees know how to listen - Hieu suddenly shouted.

And the other day, even more surprisingly, Ms. Thuy stood still for a moment before quietly leaving. It was because she heard a whispering voice, not from Ha Linh but from Hieu:

- I'm sorry, my good tree. Thank you for being green again.

VO THU HUONG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/loi-thi-tham-cung-la-biec-post801602.html