The Yellow Flower

Sami was walking home from the bus stop. He saw a small yellow flower growing in a crack in the sidewalk. It was a single, bright, perfect little flower in the middle of all the grey concrete.

Sami knelt down. He looked closely at the flower. It was so bright that it seemed to be smiling at him.

"I will pick it and take it home to Mom," he thought.

Then he stopped. The flower had grown there all by itself. It had pushed its way through the hard concrete. It was happy in its small crack in the sidewalk. If he picked it, it would die in a few hours. If he left it, it would keep shining for a week.

Sami stood up. He smiled at the flower. He kept walking.

Later that afternoon, a small bee was flying along the sidewalk looking for something to eat. The bee found the yellow flower. The bee landed on it. The bee drank the sweet nectar from inside.

The bee flew home with the food. It made a small drop of honey from the nectar. The honey was sweet and golden.

Sami did not see the bee. But the kindness he had done by leaving the flower had quietly fed the bee, and through the bee, the whole little hive.

The smallest flower is a guest at God's table.

That is what Sami's grandmother used to say.

Source: Baha'i Stories for Children (https://bahaistoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/), paraphrased short story for children.

Various. *Baha'i Stories for Children*. https://bahaistoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/