Shooting stars are rare and they come and go so fast it doesn’t allow for proper wishes. The best I could do was utter “I wish” and the flaming piece of rock from outer space was gone. However, there is a plant that I loved as a child called dandelion. They look like small suns, bright and happy little flowers swaying in the wind. They grow anywhere. The best part about this plant is when they finally turn into this ball of white delicate fluff and float away in the wind with a light flick or a gentle blow, like tiny parachutes but more fascinating.
It was one summer afternoon when I discovered the magic of dandelions. I was about six and I was in the living room. I don’t remember what I was doing but I remember my mother sitting on the couch folding clothes. The windows in the living room were wide open to let the cool breeze in and that’s when I saw several dandelion seeds floating about in the air. The more I tried to reach for them the more that they swayed and flew higher. I chased them across the living room, much to my mother’s delight. With a smile on her lips she told me that if I catch and hold them in my hand and make a wish before blowing them away, that wish might come true. It’s like being told fairies and magic were real. Suddenly, our yard wasn’t just a garden overrun by weeds. It was an enchanted place simply because there were dandelions there. I was giddy with excitement.
In the late afternoon sun, with a stem of a perfect ball of white dandelion in hand, I closed my eyes and made a wish…it was the first of many. And as the dandelion seeds flew in the air I remembered feeling really happy…and hopeful.
Escape to Aurora Lane 