Mother’s Day and Amma’s Tomato Plant
Sahel was playing outside with his bat and ball. His mother was doing some gardening. There were lots of different plants, planted along the wall. “Putha be careful with those plants!” said Sahel’s mother from time to time when he hit the ball against the wall with his bat.
“Amma look!” shouted Sahel’s sister Yenuli, who came to help water the plants. “There are tiny Áower buds on this tomato plant of yours!” Sahel also peeped and looked at it. The children’s mother smiled happily. “These will grow into tiny tomatoes soon!” she said.
Sahel started to play again and hit the ball hard with his bat. The ball hit the wall and fell between two plants almost knocking them down.
“Malli! Can you please be careful!” yelled Yenuli. “You almost smashed the plants!” Sahel ignored her and continued to play.
Every evening while Sahel was playing in the garden, his mother was tending to her plants, fertilizing them and watering them. On days that Yenuli had no homework, she too joined their mother and helped her. Sahel was not interested in gardening, so he didn’t help at all.
A few days later, Sahel saw his mother and sister observing the tomato plant with interest. “Look, the buds have bloomed into tiny Áowers,” said Yenuli. “This makes me so happy!” said their mother putting some fertilizer to the plant. “This will help the Áowers turn into tomatoes soon.”
About a week later, Sahel heard his mother and sister talking excitedly about the tiny tomatoes on the plant. “There are six small tomatoes,” said Yenuli. “We can make fresh tomato salad!” said their mother as they both removed the weeds around the plant and watered it.
One evening, Sahel’s mother Ànished her gardening and collected her gardening-tools. “Putha don’t stay out for too long. You’ll get bitten by mosquitoes,” she warned, while stepping inside the house. “I’ll come in Àve minutes, Amma,” replied Sahel playing with his bat and ball.
Sahel hit the ball hard against the wall a couple of times. A few mosquitoes started to bite him. While scratching his legs, Sahel hit the ball hard without looking where he was aiming at. The ball bounced off and hit a few plants as it landed, knocking down a few plants.
The boy looked around. No one was out. He quickly ran towards the plants and observed them. A few plants were bent down but their stems were not broken. He made them stand one by one. When he reached for the last plant, his heart stopped. It was the tomato plant and it was badly damaged.
“They pay so much of attention to this plant. They will deÀnitely notice this!” panicked Sahel. The small green tomatoes were removed and scattered all over. He made the plant stand upright but there was no way to Àx the tomatoes. So he quickly threw them far away.
Later that day, Yenuli whispered in Sahel’s ear, “Tomorrow is ‘Mother’s Day’. We should do something special for Amma!”
“If Amma notices the missing tomatoes she’ll be so upset tomorrow, on Mother’s Day,” thought Sahel.
“Akka will bite my head off if she knows what happened and for ruining Mother’s Day for Amma!”
Sahel was so guilty that he couldn’t even sleep that night. So he thought of ways to Àx his mistake and to stop his mother from getting upset on Mother’s Day. The next day, Sahel got up very early and went to see the tomato plant. It was still standing upright but he knew that his mother would notice the missing tomatoes at once.
“Maybe if I put a few ripe tomatoes around the plant, she’ll think that they have fallen after turning red,” thought Sahel. So he searched their fridge and found a few ripe tomatoes. They were red and large. But Sahel had no other option, so he took them and scattered them around the plant, hoping that his mother and sister would think that they had fallen from the tomato plant.
While having breakfast that morning, Yenuli and Sahel heard their mother laughing, so they both ran to the garden. She was holding big red tomatoes. “Where are those from?” asked Yenuli. “Where are the small green ones?” she asked after looking at the crooked tomato plant. “Well, looks like they have turned this big overnight!” said their mother looking directly at Sahel.
“Looks like the fertilizer was magical,” said the children’s mother. Sahel looked down with guilt while Yenuli stared in surprise. Sahel walked into the kitchen with his mother. Confused, Yenuli was still in the garden. “So what happened?” asked Sahel’s mother smiling. “How do you know that I did it?” asked Sahel hiding his face.
Sahel sighed, “I didn’t do it on purpose Amma. I am so sorry.
I ruined Mother’s Day for you.” He was struggling to hold back the tears.
“No you didn’t darling, you made me laugh. When I saw the huge, red tomatoes around the plant, I was wondering if I needed glasses!” laughed Sahel’s mother, making him laugh too.
“You don’t have to cover it up when you make a mistake, Putha. Be honest about it and take responsibility!” said Sahel’s mother giving him a hug. “I am so sorry. I will make it right!” said Sahel hugging her back. “I am getting you a gift for Mother’s Day. I will buy you two new tomato plants from the plant nursery with another surprise plant!”
So Sahel gifted his mother two new tomato plants bought with his own pocket money and another rose plant with a beautiful red rosebud ready to bloom. “Maybe we should put some of that magic fertilizer to these plants too!” said Yenuli who was still confused about the tomatoes, and the children’s mother laughed, hugging them both.