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Sara woke up and checked the clock. It was after 10 a.m. She sighed and regretted chatting with Michelle all night. It took a while for her to get up. Resting is good, but I really need to come up with plan. I don’t want to waste my time like this. She sat up and fell asleep again. A couple hours later, she finally got up. She rolled out of bed and ate cereal. She stared at the television for a while and went out to run. The town was very quiet. After running a block, she realized that she had forgotten to put on sun block. She ran back to her house and put on sun block. She liked to think while she was running. She thought about searching for a job, and until she got a job, she wanted to do volunteer work. She thought about what to do with her life. She did not want to be too serious, but she needed a plan. How could I live so far without plan? There were flowers at the small park. She slowed down and looked at them. Okay, I will start looking for a job today. Maybe I can ask friends, too, but what kind of job do I want? Sara felt dumb founded. Oh, I really don’t have any plans in my life; I don’t even know what I prefer. I was saying yes to everything. She laughed. Maybe I can work as a secretary again. Working at the fast food restaurant was not bad. Maybe try to be a waitress this time? Oh, no. They were just part time jobs. Let’s look for something that can lead to a career, hmm… where should I start? When she came back home, she saw Joe working in his yard. He was digging the ground. She slowly approached him.
“Are you planting something?” Sara asked.
“Yes, I thought I could make my yard look better, and uh, I am planting some flowers.” Joe was sweating under the sun.
“Flowers? Where?” Sara looked around but she did not see any flowers.
“Here let me show you.” He took her to his garage. The garage was very clean and organized. She saw the claw hammer that she borrowed the other day. Joe opened the trunk and back seat and there were many flowerers.
“These are so pretty.”
“You said you like flowers?”
“Of course, who wouldn’t?” She could smell the scent of flowers.
When Joe offered to plant flowers for her, she was very happy. She imagined herself taking care of the flowers.
“Well, then… I can pay for the flowers.” Sara wanted at least do something for him, but Joe did not take the offer, but instead asked her to teach him to dance. Sara was a little bit surprised because she did not know that Joe liked dancing that much. I can teach him, but we need a third person. Michelle thinks he is cool so she will help us or I can ask others, too. When she said yes to Joe, he seemed pretty excited.
Sara and Joe took some flowers to her yard. Wow, this is so much fun!
“Wait.” Sara wanted them in the right place, and she wanted to see them from the window. She stood in front of the window and tried to pick the right place. She ran back out and started digging the ground with Joe. Sara was having a lot of fun planting flowers. She saw Joe and she thought he seemed tired, so she wanted to dig the hole by herself but it was not easy for her.
“Put your right food on the blade and push it with your weight, and hold it like this and lift it up.” Joe taught her how to use a spade.
“Oh. I got it.” Sara tried just as Joe told her and this time, the blade went in, much deeper than before, and she could do a much better job, but after 5 minutes, she got tired; Joe did the rest of the work.
“Hey.” Sara was grateful and wanted to invite Joe to her dinner.
“Yes.”
“It’s my birthday this Saturday.”
“Really?”
“Yes, and I will be going home, but before I leave we will eat dinner together. Would you like to come?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I am not sure when it will be, but I will let you know.”
“Ok, so when are you coming back?”
“I am not sure. Probably around a week. I haven’t been home for a while, so I am really excited, so we may started dancing lesson after I come back. Would that be ok?”
“Yeah, sure. I hope you have a good time.” Jo said with smile.
Sara wanted to water her flowers, but she could not find a watering can. She grabbed a big pot and filled it up. When she was about to take the pot outside, Michelle came out with pajamas on.
“What are you doing?”
“We are planting flowers.”
“What?” Michelle looked outside. “Wow, that’s pretty. You don’t need that though.”
“What?” Sara asked.
“Joe is watering now.”
Sara looked outside, and Joe was watering with his watering can.
“Sara, when was the last time you visited your grandma?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t visited her for a while.”
“Why don’t you go see her today? You have time.”
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. Do you want to come with me?”
“Oh, no. I can’t. I have to meet someone.”
“Ok.”
Joe saw Michelle and Sara and waved at them.
Sara went to see her grandmother after lunch.
“It’s been a while. I am sorry.”
“It’s ok.” Her grandmother smiled at her and gave her a mint. Sara put the candy in her mouth and talked to her grandmother. She told her about the festival and her new friends. Sara and her grandmother took a walk to the garden. Mrs. Olverman had to use a cane. Sara was sad to see her grandmother become weaker. They sat down on a bench. Under the tree was very cool.
“Your next door neighbor,” Mrs. Olverman said.
“Who, Joe?”
“No, Mr. Mitchell.”
“Yes, what about him?”
“He seemed very sad, like a man who lost something very important.”
Sara tried to remember Mr. Mitchell. She remembered that Michelle said the same thing.
“Sara, our minds are like flowers. If you don’t take care of it, it will wither. Sometimes they grow well by themselves, but you always have to take care of it, because there are always trials and obstacles. Once your mind withers, it is very hard to revive it.”
Sara thought it was amazing that her grandmother was talking about flowers on the same day she planted some with Joe. She continued.
“There are so many people who think that it is impossible to revive their mind, because it is not easy to get over a bad experiences. It is possible to revive your mind just as good as when it was blooming, and it can be even more beautiful than before. You can’t erase the past, and it will come back to them. They started blaming other people, blaming themselves, and later they gave up everything. However, the most important thing is that the past stays in the past. It can’t hurt you until you give it the power to do that.” Mrs. Olverman held Sara’s hand and said, “Don’t be a victim of the past.”
Sara came back after she ate dinner with her grandmother. She always felt very comfortable after talking to her grandmother. When she tried to get into her house, she realized that the door was locked. When she opened the door with a key and walked into the living room, people popped up out of nowhere at the same time and screamed, “Surprise!”
It was startling, so Sara actually screamed. There was Michelle, Jennifer, Jake, Shawn and Bailey. She saw balloons and decorations in the house.
“I almost had a heart attack!” Sara said.
“That means we did our job right!” Michelle said.
“Happy birthday, Sara!” Bailey said. Shawn brought out the cake and they sang a birthday song. Sara made a wish and blew out the candles. Her wish was simple. Everyone around her was happy. They ate dinner and played games.
“Those are very pretty flowers,” Jennifer said.
“Yeah, Joe planted them today.”
“Really? How is he doing?”
“I think he is doing good.” While Sara was talking to Jennifer she thought Jennifer might be interested in Joe.
“Do you want me to invite Joe now?” Sara asked.
“No, I wish it was just us tonight,” Jake said from behind. He was still using crutches, but he seemed to be doing a lot better. Jennifer rolled her eyes. Sara thought if she invited Joe, Jake might leave, so she decided against it.