Whispers with the Green Leaves

A small curtain was stretched across the classroom to provide shade. Several parents had pitched a trellis for plants. Tiny, pretty potted plants of various types – cacti, succulents, fragrant lotus, impatiens – were planted in recycled plastic bottles, painted in various colors, and hung in front of the classroom. A "curtain" of plants of all shapes and sizes, lush and refreshing to the eye, and especially, there were 38 lovely potted plants for the 38 members of the class to care for.

"Children can register to receive a plant for themselves. The only condition is that once you've received it, you must love and take good care of it," Ms. Thuy gently reminded them.

The whole class applauded and cheered. They unanimously agreed to name the hanging gardens in front of the classroom the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, sounding so cool as if every day they got to admire a wonder of the world right beside them. As soon as the bell rang for recess, the quickest students rushed out to claim the spots for the tall, healthy green plants. Those who were slower felt a little resentful because their plants were smaller than their friends'.

"It's okay, just take good care of the plant, praise and thank it every day, and it will grow quickly," Ha Linh said, holding a delicate clump of fairy hair that looked somewhat like a wild weed.

There was a burst of laughter:

- That's a lie! It's a tree, not a baby, so why would it need to be praised?

Being a shy girl, Ha Linh rarely spoke to her friends, but this time, she unexpectedly spoke at length.

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

"I believe that," Nhân interjected. "I saw it in a movie. They said that long ago, there was a tribe that didn't know how to use axes to cut down trees. To cut down a tree, they would walk around it and curse it every day, and then the tree would fall down on its own."

Her friends burst out laughing: "That's nonsense!" Ha Linh looked at Nhan and smiled. It didn't matter. Whether one more person believed it or no one believed it, she still thought her grandmother was right: trees like to hear words of love.

***

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 hillside. The hillside soil, eroded by years of rain and wind, was barren and rocky. She had to manually carry sacks of soil, fertilize it little by little, and gradually improve it. Then, with her own hands, she nurtured each seedling and sowed each seed. She treated each plant like a child needing care, unwilling to part with it. She only returned to the city for important family matters or Ha Linh's birthday.

In Grandma's garden, there are some of the strangest-looking trees in the world. Have you ever seen a papaya tree with a back as hunched as an old woman's, yet still laden with dozens of ripe papayas? That tree had once been battered by a storm and seemed beyond saving. Grandma comforted, talked to, and encouraged it. She praised each new shoot that sprouted on the trunk, each new flower that bloomed, each new papaya that had formed... And so, it miraculously revived.

Every time she visited her grandmother, Ha Linh would follow her into the garden to chat with the irises, everlasting daisies, roses, and ixora flowers... "Thank you for blooming. You are a wonderfully beautiful flower." That whispered message was sent to the flowers in her grandmother's garden that Ha Linh encountered. It also extended thanks to the green tea leaves still damp with dew that the two of them had just picked from the branches. Whether the flowers and leaves understood or not, they were vibrant, and the green tea was clear and fragrant. 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 a gentle joy rising in her heart. Since her parents separated, Ha Linh rarely heard her mother laugh out loud anywhere except on the days she returned to her grandmother's garden. Her mother's laughter, mingled with the tinkling wind chimes in the garden, was a sound more beautiful than any music Ha Linh knew.

***

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, created by the entire class, are entering the summer season.

Some of the plants had become withered, one fragrant lotus plant half-wilted and half-fresh, beginning to turn a pale, silvery yellow. The delicate fragrance of the lotus had completely vanished. That was Hieu's plant; the other day, he had carelessly poured a bowl of leftover soup into it.

- Good heavens, trees can't survive in saline soil, have you forgotten?

"I didn't find it very salty, there was just a little leftover soup," Hieu argued stubbornly.

Ha Linh heard the argument. Without saying a word, she quickly poured a glass of water, sprayed it with a fine mist, and thoroughly watered the plant, hoping to wash away the spilled soup. "Sorry, my dear lotus. Hang in there, my sweet plant." The leaves turned yellow, withered, and fell off. It turned out that Hieu hadn't just spilled soup once, but three times; no one had noticed the first two times. Each time she watered and talked to her lotus, Ha Linh would walk over to Hieu's plant, add a little more nutrients, and send a loving message. Sometimes, Thuy would happen to be walking behind her and hear Ha Linh ask, "Hey little darling, how are you today?", and she would just laugh and quietly walk away.

Hà Linh's pot of impatiens began to sprout tiny flower buds, no bigger than the tip of a chopstick. From those small, pale pink buds, the color gradually deepened. One morning, from the clump of plants that looked like weeds, vibrant pink flowers burst forth, shining brightly in front of the classroom door, drawing admiring glances from the other girls. Hà Linh felt a pang of sadness as she looked at the fragrant lotus plant. Its leaves were withering away, leaving only a few scattered ones.

When there was almost nothing left to hope for, unexpectedly, lovely young shoots sprouted from the trunk. The shoots emitted a familiar fragrance on the slender, fragrant lotus stem.

"Look, you're absolutely right, Ha Linh! Trees know how to listen!" Hieu exclaimed in surprise.

And the next day, even more surprisingly, Thuy stood still for a moment before quietly leaving. This was because she heard a whisper, not from Ha Linh, but from Hieu:

I'm so sorry, sweet plant. Thank you for turning green again.

VO THU HUONG

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