Emily was watering her newly planted flowers when she noticed something moving behind the Lilies. In her haste to twirl around, she dumped her watering can. She plopped down on the ground and began to sob. She could never take care of this garden without her mommy.
Daddy told her Mommy was taken to heaven because other little girls really needed her there. Emily didn't want to be selfish, but she missed her mom so much that sometimes she just had to cry. She righted her watering can with the pretty Daisy on the side. Her mom had given her a gardening set for Christmas: a watering can, hoe, and hand rake. Daddy helped her rake the flower garden that year and plant the flowers they had grown from seed. Mommy had instructed her on exactly how to plant them and had told her to make sure she paid special attention to the instructions this time.
When they were planting, Daddy said that Mommy knew she would not be with Emily by springtime. Emily couldn't understand how her mommy could have known that. If she had known, Emily reasoned, then she certainly would have done something about it. Daddy said that mommy really wanted to be there with them, but that God needed her to help some other little girls that needed her more. Emily wondered if the little girls were sick, sick like her mommy was for so long. She had seen pictures of sick kids in hospitals, some of them even younger than she was. She thought of how scared those kids must have felt, not knowing anyone at the hospital. She thought maybe the little kids in Heaven were scared, too, and that's why Mommy had to go to be with them.

Just then, she saw the movement again. She pushed aside the leaves of a shrub at the edge of the flower garden and found a beautiful green frog. She reached for him and he hopped away two hops before turning back to see if she was still reaching for him. She quickly scooped him up with two hands and brought his eyes up to meet hers.

"Where did you come from?" Emily blinked away the last of her tears. She thought the frog must have been scared, too. "Don't you have a mommy, either?"

The frog blinked back at her.

"My mommy is in Heaven." Blink. Emily was sure the frog understood.

"She left me here to take care of the garden." She turned the frog in the direction of her work. "And Daddy, too, of course." Blink. Emily stroked the frog as he sat contently in her hand.

"I think you're right," she said, as if the frog had given her the idea himself. "I think I will get more seeds and grow more flowers and, if I have enough, I can give flowers to all those kids I saw on TV that were in the hospital. Do you think they would like that?" Blink. Blink.

"I know they will. I just know they will love it!" Emily placed the frog gently back on the ground under the bush. "I do hope you come back and visit soon, Mr. Frog! I've got a lot of work to do!" Emily waved at the frog as she ran off to the garden shed for her tools.





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