Early in the summer of 1950, in the town of Winchelsea, lived a man named Mr. Pryce. When he settled into his greenhouse, a boy named Forrester Cahill came into the greenhouse.
Forrester was short, only reaching the height of three-feet- ten-inches, and chubby. And Forrester was pale, had many freckles, and his hair was short and reddish.
He asked Mr. Pryce if he will open his greenhouse, and he told Forrester it’ll be opening soon. And Forrester was at his rightful age of eight.
In the past, Forrester visited Mr. Pryce’s greenhouse since he turned five. Mr. Pryce opened his greenhouse, and they went in.
Forrester was carrying a medium-sized plant named Gladio- lus, and he placed it into a hole about a foot deep in the ground. Forrester learned from Mr. Pryce how to water plants and give them pure sunlight.
Forrester liked how Mr. Pryce taught him the idyllic of the plant and its growth patterns. Once Forrester was done, he went off in the distance and came back with a friend.
This friend was a girl, twelve years old. She was a beautiful girl, and her name was Poppy Reed. She didn’t know about this greenhouse.
Poppy was mid-sized, only a height of five-feet-four-inches tall, normal, and she was from the Mediterranean. Poppy had light blonde hair and green eyes.
Now, Poppy wanted to be included in his greenhouse, so she asked Mr. Pryce if she could come into his greenhouse, so he let her in.
Mr. Pryce was forty-four, and he was normal, only the height of five-feet-eleven-inches. He was scrawny, but muscular and English.
You can say Mr. Pryce has trouble seeing, but with his glaucoma, he can feel his way throughout his greenhouse. He also has white hair.
Poppy came in and out of Mr. Pryce’s greenhouse with dirt on her arms, and that made Mr. Pryce growl angrily at her. She noticed it was doing so, and she stopped.
Meanwhile, later in the day came the afternoon, and Forrester and Poppy were hungry from planting in the morning, and Mr. Pryce had nothing to give them.
So, Poppy suggested calling her mom, Violetina, so she did so. Violetina was thirty-one and five-feet-nine-inches tall.
She was muscular, and she’s from the Mediterranean. She has strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes.
After a while, Violetina came with their food and then stayed for a while. Mr. Pryce asked, “Who’s there?” And Violetina answered back, “Hello, sir. My name is Violetina Reed, Poppy’s mum.”
Mr. Pryce tried saying anything, but had nothing to say in response because he couldn’t see Violetina.
“Good God!” yelled Forrester. “What is it, dear?” answered Violetina. Forrester pointed to the animal-shaped hole in the ground and panicked in astonishment.
Then Violetina walked over to Forrester, who was stressed, and tried to calm him down while she did a lullaby called “Hushing the Little One” somehow, that worked on Forrester. By that time, Poppy wanted to help, but her mum shoved her aside and stopped her in her tracks. She wanted to question her own mother, but Violetina refused to listen to her own child.
Forrester, feeling calmer, strolled away from the area and told Mr. Pryce what was happening, and Mr. Pryce finally understood. Mr. Pryce was in his own bedroom, and he didn’t want to be bothered.
Mr. Pryce began by scratching the backside of his head and yelling out loud, “Why are you bothering me, young master?” Forrester wanted to cry, but didn’t. So, Forrester softly answered back, “There’s an animal-shaped hole in your greenhouse, sir.”
Mr. Pryce finally understood, and he got taken by Forrester’s hand, and he led him to the place. Mr. Pryce was well known in the area and knew where the animals liked to dig.
And Mr. Pryce told them the animal was a rabbit, and his name was Fluffleton, and that he was a nice rabbit. They noticed it was a rabbit too, and they were all thankful for it.
Just as they were all relaxing after the whole thing, they walked into Mr. Pryce’s home, and Mr. Pryce talked about the wartime.
Mr. Pryce said, “This war was known as the English-French War. This war involved England against France.” Now, Mr. Pryce’s story told Forrester and Poppy all that he knew about this war.
Mr. Pryce continued and spat out fast facts about it, like, “There’s a French soldier named Pierre-Antoine Vaugeois, and he’s a first sergeant, or as the French call it, premier sergent.”
Another fun fact: “There is a French general named François Lefeuvre, or “général,” as the French call him.”
And Poppy was surprised by what Mr. Pryce had to say. And Mr. Pryce himself was surprised, too.
Actually, Forrester and Poppy were excited about going off tomorrow and finding some new friends. So they all sat by the fireplace, where it rained until dawn and got warmed by its glow.
Until the day ended, they all sat there by the fireplace and told some interesting stories about what it’s like to learn about gardening and other gardening techniques, as the kids remembered being told them as they had never been told before. As Forrester recalled, “It’s like this,” he said, “good things come from planting the seed firmly in the ground.” “Firmly?” replied Mr. Pryce, as he questioned Forrester, “what do you mean, young master?”
“Like this, I’ll show you,” replies Forrester, “let me show you.” Then Forrester grabbed blank sheets of paper and began drawing the seeds firmly planted in the ground.
“I see, young master,” replies Mr. Pryce, “is that all?” he once again questioned Forrester. “Now you get it,” Forrester replied, “if you closed your eyes and imagined this diorama.” Poppy wanted to draw too, so she drew butterflies.
“Do you like my drawings?” Poppy asked, “this one or that one?” “I like them both indeed,” was Mr. Pryce’s reply. Thus, Mr. Pryce’s response pleased Poppy.
The day ended, and Mr. Pryce told everyone to go to their homes. After a while, after everyone went home, Mr. Pryce felt his way to his bedroom and lied in his bed to go to sleep.
The next morning came, as Mr. Pryce awoke from a deep slumber and woke up to an alarm. “What’s that noise?” Mr. Pryce wondered, “who’s there?”
But there was no noise, and Mr. Pryce thought he was crazy. Mr. Pryce had a scared look on his face that turned his skin pale.
“Seriously,” Mr. Pryce said, “you’d better not be pranking me, whoever you are!” But nothing appeared there, and the room was completely silent.
Mr. Pryce got up on his bed and sat at his bedside, wondering what that noise he had heard. “No,” Mr. Pryce said, “that’s crazy. I’ve heard the noise.”