Friends from the Vegetable Patch

Lulu and Lily were two spinach plants who were born on the same vegetable patch. They had been friends all their lives. Together they had endured terrible frosts, snowstorms, and scorching hot summer days. Through it all they had always supported each other, looking forward to the time every spinach plant dreams of: the moment they are served on a child's dinner plate, the moment they get to pass on all their gathered strength.

So when harvest time arrived, Lulu and Lily were happy at being sent together to the spinach preparation factory, and then on to the packaging company and to the supermarket. At the supermarket they sat together, displayed on one of the very best shelves. They were both excited to see ladies passing by with their baskets. They were especially thrilled when any lady with a child came nearby. A whole day passed without anyone showing any interest in them, but just before closing time, a lady walked too close to their shelf, and without realising, knocked Lulu off the shelf. Lulu fell to the floor, right in front of the lady, and the lady's foot kicked Lulu under the stack of shelves.

No one realised what had happened, and Lulu spent the whole night crying, knowing that she would be left under the shelves until she moulded away. Lily, very upset, regretted her friend's bad luck, but was unable to do anything. The next day, a lady with an adorable little boy seemed like she was going to buy Lily, but this did not cheer Lily up. She was thinking about her poor friend. In what was both a moment of madness and a moment of true friendship, she made one last attempt to help her lifelong friend. Just as the boy was about to grab Lily from the shelf, Lily threw herself to the floor and rolled under the shelves, ending up next to Lulu. The boy, surprised and amused, bent down and, without knowing it, picked up both Lulu and Lily.

Lily ended up with a pair of broken stalks, but it was a price worth paying to save her friend. And some hours later, sitting on a plate at Lulu's side, she felt like the happiest piece of spinach in the world, for managing to fulfil her dream alongside her best friend.