GRANDPA'S LOUD SNORES

Misha and her younger sister Esha were visiting their grandma and grandpa for the winter.

- Ashima Kaushik

They found Grandma in the garden, tending to her tomatoes, with Rocky, her old cat, by her side. The tomatoes had to be prepared, so that they would bloom and fruit the following summer.

"You have such a lovely garden," said Esha, admiring the season's last ripe tomatoes.

"I tried to grow an apple seed but it just dried off after a while," murmured Misha, as she plucked the tomatoes and placed them in her basket, "I did see a shoot though, I am sure."

"Did you give love and care to the seedlings?" asked Grandma while spreading wood chips around her tomato plants. "Plants can feel love and they respond well to kindness." "That's why the tomatoes in your garden are so pretty, red and round!" said Esha and Misha together.

"I guess so," chuckled Grandma, adjusting the woollen scarf around her neck. She loved her garden. She spoke to her plants while sipping tea in the garden. Sparrows would hop around her for cookie crumbs in the summer months.

Right then, Dolly duck came along, quacking, followed by her ducklings. All eight of them in a row, marched to the pond. Dolly duck had made a lovely nest by the shed, near the red wheelbarrow, hidden and protected by the jasper and jasmine bushes. She had lined it with soft grass and moss to keep her ducklings warm during the cold months.

"Aren't we going to feed the ducks, grandma?" asked Esha.

"Yes, Esha! As soon as Grandpa is done fixing the cabinet," smiled Grandma, "Why don't you both run upstairs and check on him?" Esha and Misha ran upstairs to check on Grandpa. They found him sleeping in his comfy chair, wrapped up in a fluffy quilt, a magazine lying in his lap. His mouth was wide open and he was snoring loudly.