The Silvery Seed
In a little town at the foot of a green hill, there lived a curious boy named Sami, who wore round glasses and loved to wonder about the world. One market morning, Sami had a single shiny coin in his pocket, and he was quite sure he would spend it on sweets. But at the very end of the market sat an old woman with kind, twinkling eyes and a basket of curious things. She held out her hand, and in her palm lay one tiny seed that shimmered like polished silver.
“What is that little seed?” asked Sami, leaning in for a closer look.
The old woman smiled and told him it was a magic seed. She said that if he planted it that very night and made one gentle wish, something wonderful would happen by morning. Sami gave her his shiny coin, and she pressed the silvery seed carefully into his hand.
That evening, he planted it in a small pot on his windowsill, closed his eyes, and made his wish.
A Tree to the Sky
When Sami woke the next morning, his whole room was filled with soft green light. He rubbed his glasses, looked toward the window, and gasped. Out of the little pot had grown an enormous tree! Its trunk was thick and twisting, covered in smooth silvery bark, and its branches were heavy with shimmering green leaves.
The tree grew up and up, straight past the rooftops, straight past the birds, all the way up into the fluffy white clouds, until Sami could not see the very top at all.
“It grew right up to the sky,” he whispered, his eyes wide with wonder behind his round glasses.
Sami had never climbed anything so tall in all his life. But the tree looked so friendly, with its branches spread out like a giant green ladder, that he took a deep breath, reached for the lowest branch, and began to climb.
Up Among the Clouds
Up and up Sami climbed, higher than the chimneys, higher than the church tower, higher than the soaring birds. The air grew cool and soft, and wisps of cloud floated past him like drifting cotton wool.
At last, he pulled himself up onto a great soft cloud, as springy and bouncy as a feather bed. And there, sitting on the cloud as if it had been waiting just for him, was a small round creature made of soft pale-blue cloud, with two little arms and a gentle, friendly face.
“Hello there, little traveller! I have been waiting for you,” said the cloud creature in a voice as soft as a summer breeze.
“Where am I? And who are you?” asked Sami, looking all around him in amazement.
The little creature gave a happy, bouncy wriggle.
“I am Nim, and welcome to the garden in the clouds,”
The Cloud Garden
Nim took Sami gently by the hand and led him across the soft clouds. Sami could hardly believe his eyes. All around them grew rows and rows of glowing flowers, and each flower held one tiny twinkling star right in its heart. There were little silver pools that shone like spilled moonlight, and soft cloud-rabbits hopping quietly between the petals.
“This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen,” said Sami softly, gazing at the glowing flowers.
Nim showed him how to cup a star-flower in his hands and watch it glow brighter. They laughed and played among the petals until the sky began to turn a deep and sleepy blue.
Then Sami remembered his cosy bed far below, and a tiny worry crept into his heart.
“I think it is time for me to go home now, Nim,” he said in a small, careful voice.
Nim gave his hand a gentle squeeze and told him there was nothing at all to be afraid of.
A Star to Keep
Nim reached into the nearest flower and carefully lifted out one tiny, glowing star-seed. The little creature placed it gently into Sami's cupped hands.
“Take this little star-seed home with you, so you will always remember the garden in the clouds,” said Nim warmly, with a kind and gentle smile.
Sami held the glowing seed close to his heart.
“Thank you, Nim. I promise I will come back to visit you one day,” he said, holding the little seed tight.
Then Nim showed him the safe way down, branch by branch, until the great silvery tree set him gently back at his own bedroom window. Sami planted the little star-seed in his pot, climbed into his warm bed, and watched it glow softly in the dark, like a tiny piece of the sky. And as he drifted off to sleep, he smiled, dreaming of the soft white clouds and his gentle new friend, high, high above the quiet little town.