By Marilyn Kratz
Emma knew all about gardens because she helped her Grandma in her garden. Emma knew which roses smelled like Mama’s perfume. She knew how fat a pea pod should be before she pulled its string to let the round green peas into her mouth. She even knew which plants had bright red radishes under them and which grew over bumpy brown potatoes.
But something in Grandma’s garden puzzled Emma. Here and there, between the rows of vegetables and flowers, big flat rocks squatted like enormous sleeping toads. “Why do you have big rocks in your garden, Grandma?” Emma asked.
Grandma smiled mysteriously. “Keep your eyes open,” she said. “Someday you will see why.”
Emma looked at the rocks every time she went into Grandma’s garden. They just sat there, as if they were waiting for her to discover their secret. One morning, Emma stopped and stared. On a big rock near her sat two beautiful yellow and black butterflies. As Emma watched, the butterflies slowly fanned their wings. Soon they flew away.
Emma looked closely at the rocks. They looked like ordinary rocks. She touched one. Emma smiled. She picked the peas quickly and hurried back into Grandma’s house. “I know why you have those big rocks in your garden, Grandma!
Grandmas laughed. “This cool morning gave you the answer, didn’t it?” said Grandma. “Yes,” said Emma. “I saw butterflies sitting on the rocks, warming themselves so they could fly.”
“That’s it,” said Grandma. “They can’t fly when their bodies are cold.”
“I wonder how they know that the sun warms the rocks,” said Emma. “Another mystery!” said Grandma.
Emma laughed. “I’ll have to work on that one, but I know one thing, Grandma,” she said. “When I grow up, I’m going to have a garden just like yours. And it will have lots of butterfly rocks!”
