It was about time Ginger invited his friends to come over. Weโre doing an art project, at least that what he said to Momma the other day, so she allowed it.
On the day his friends came to the house, they chose to work on this art project on the backyard, so that the paintings will dry quicker. They rolled out a giant mat close to the sproutโwhich Momma planted a while agoโbut because it looked quite identical to the grass surrounding it, one of Gingerโs friends almost accidentally stepped on it until he rebuked, โHold your toe!โ
And at the same time, Momma approached them to hand out five glasses full of orange juice. โThat was not a big deal!โ she reassured. โGingie, be good to your friends.โ
โOki, Momma,โ Ginger smiled that his eyes crinkled, then continued working on his canvas that had his name in the back of it: GINGER VANOWEN HEARST.
Yichen is the type that doesnโt talk too much, but sure is attentive to everything in his surroundings. The moment he knew Momma was putting something on the ground and had been looking after it for days, he determined to find out what was her plan all this time. He didnโt straightforwardly asked Momma things like, โWhat are you up to, Mom?โ but soon as he got home from college, the first thing he did was going to the backyard to watch over the sprout.
Until one day, Momma found out about that.
โYiyi? What are you doing down thereโฆโ she asked from the patio, while Yichen was squatting before the sprout to watch it grows. He didnโt realize Momma was talking to him for a second.
โEh, nothing, Momma,โ he looked over his shoulder while his position remained the same. โIโm just curious about how trees actually grow.โ
As expected from Yiyi, Momma talked under her breath, while wiping the dust off a book she was holding. It was an encyclopedia with a sticker that says her inquisitive sonโs name on the cover: YICHEN RUI HEARST.
โHahaha! You canโt catch me!โ It was the sound of Santiago playing chase with his little siblings. Instead of reminding the younger ones to watch their steps and try not to step on the sprout, he was the one being told to.
โDonโt blame me,โ he excused, pointing his finger to the ground. โBlame the sprout! Why isnโt it getting any bigger!โ
He did step on the sprout one day. Well, not exactly stepping onto it, but he didnโt pay attention to whatโs under his feet that the sprout came out of the soil along with the roots. That was when his siblings decided not to interveneโespecially as Momma switched her personality, then gently called his full name: SANTIAGO FOLD HEARST.
Along with her older brother, Jolene doesnโt say much about growing a tree in the backyard, but she had been carefully watching over it for a few times. She just agreed though sometimes she did wonder, โWonโt it take too much space?โ And so on.
She usually went there after college. When the others were not noticing, Jolene took the watering can from the storage room, filling it all up, and made sure that the sprout got hydrated enough. One day, when Momma was out of town to do some business, she left a note on the fridge, which said, I am out of town. Thereโs food in the fridge and on the cabinets for you to cook. Be back soon, love you!
On the bottom side of the note, Momma was thanking someone for taking care of her plant really wellโand that was when Jolene noticed her full name there: JOLENE MERYIA HEARST.
The sprout had grown to a seedling, it had become bigger than before. Kaia noticed this first, so she told everyone in the house, โWeโre really going to have a tree!โ
On weekdays, after going through classes and classes, she spared some of her time to visit the library and tried to find books that specifically talk about how to grow a tree. Kaia has always been like this; once sheโs interested in something, sheโll be willing to do anything to make it happen.
She found about three books, all of them came in different sizes. Kaia promised herself to learn everything from it. She then asked the librarian if she could borrow those three books at the same time, but since sheโs a regular member, the librarian said yes without a second thought. He stamped the sign of the library on the book, then wrote Kaiaโs name there: KAIA NOE HEARST.
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K. Hearst
As mentioned, Jesse is truly a soft-spoken person. When he says he is fond of his family, he really means itโhe just loves being under the same roof with them every single day. Not to mention that heโs very devoted to Momma, that whenever she asks for help, heโll be more than willing to fulfill her needs.
Now that the sprout has grown to a taller seedling, Jesse was being asked to buy a pack of organic plant fertilizer from the nearest gardening shop. Of course, he agreed. He took one of his little brothers to go along with him.
โTwo packs of fertilizer, please,โ he said to the store clerk.
โDidnโt Momma say a pack?โ his brother was frowning at him.
โWhy not?โ asked Jesse. โIโll pay for it. Iโm supporting whatever Momma is up to.โ
The store clerk came with Jesseโs request. โTwo packs of fertilizer, coming! Anything else?โ
Jesse shook his head.
The store clerk asked for his full name and from that point, he realized that Jesseโs family members are regular customers in this shopโbecause of the surname: JESSE ALTERIO HEARST.
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Jake Sim.
Hi, @Durov and @Telegram. This channel is still active, don't ban it.