The Tale of the Seed Drop

Illustration by Emerson  Age:  3  Paris, TN
Mrs. Natalie's Childcare

          Emerson the dragonfly had just finished making a pile of seeds.  His parents had told him to work on his focusing skills.  They had made a circle in the dirt and told him he had to drop a seed in the circle while flying as high as the tops of the cattails three times in a row.  Then he could stop and go play with his friends.

Emerson stared at the pile of seeds with a pouty look on his face.  Then he glanced at his father who was flying over the tall grass not very far away.  He slowly flew to the pile and picked up a seed.  Then he flew to the edge of the clearing and turned toward the circle.  He dropped the seed, but missed the circle by quite a bit.

Just then Hayden the turtle lumbered up the path to the clearing.  “What you doing, Emerson,” asked Hayden.

“My parents are making me practice my focusing skills,” said Emerson miserably.  “I have to drop a seed in the circle while flying as high as the cattails three times in a row before I stop.”

“How’s it going?” asked Hayden.

“Terrible!” moaned Emerson. “I wish we could sneak off to the tall grass and play, but my dad is just over there.”

“I’ll stay here and watch, if that helps,” said Hayden encouragingly.  “Then when you do it, we can go play together.”

Before Emerson could respond, Xavier the frog jumped into the clearing.  “Hey guys,” called Xavier, “what you doing?”

“Emerson is trying to drop seeds into that circle,” said Hayden.  “He has to hit it three times in a row before he can stop and play.”

Emerson just gave Xavier a miserable look, picked up a seed, and tried again.  Xavier went over by Hayden to watch.  Again Emerson missed by quite a bit.

“Hey, Emerson,” said Xavier, “you’re never going to hit the circle if you keep looking away.  If I didn’t look at what I was trying to hit with my tongue, I might end up hitting anything.  I learned that the hard way when I tried to catch a fly in a thorn bush.”

Emerson just gave Xavier a nasty look, but this time when he tried to hit the circle he actually did try to keep looking at the circle.  He didn’t hit it, but he did get closer.

“That was better,” said Xavier, “but you still looked away right at the last minute.  Try again.”

Before Emerson could grab another seed and swing around for another try, Audra the duck waddled into the clearing.  “Hey, what are you guys doing?” asked Audra.

“Emerson’s trying to drop a seed into that circle.  He has to hit it three times in a row before he can come play,” said Xavier.

“How many times has he made it so far?” asked Audra.

“None,” Emerson said disgustedly as he swung around for another try.

This time Emerson concentrated on keeping his eye on the circle the whole time.  He dropped the seed, and it landed on the line of the circle and rolled inside.  His friends cheered.

“Hey, Emerson,” said Audra, “try dropping the seed just a little sooner.  I always have to aim right in front of a moving bug to catch it.”

Emerson grabbed another seed and swung around for another try.  He concentrated on keeping his eye on the circle the whole time and let go just a little bit earlier.  This time the seed landed right in the middle of the circle.  His friends really cheered this time. 

Now Emerson had a very determined look on his face.  That was two in a row.  If he could just hit it this time, he could go play with his friends.  He picked up another seed and swung around for a try.  He concentrated on doing it exactly as he had done it the last time, and sure enough, the seed landed right in the middle of the circle.  Now his friends were going wild!

Emerson looked toward the tall grass and saw his father watching.  His father gave him a big grin and nodded toward his friends.  Emerson grinned back and went to play with his friends.  Of all things, the friends decided to play target practice.  Normally, Emerson was horrible at that game, but this time he actually won.