Waiting for a Flower to Bloom

Li Muyu

Sichuan Literature amp; Art Publishing House

June 2022

28.00 （CNY）

Lulu， a boy in Grade Four， could understand the languages of natural creatures. He had a psychedelic garden where the plants had all kinds of interesting stories every day. This book tells the stories about Lulu， these plants， and other people around him. It advocates the harmonious coexistence between man and nature and hopes people can grow with plants in love and tolerance.

Ant Toutou was the earliest “aborigine” in a garden. Before the Swan Castle was set up， the ant family had been busy here. Their family had lived on this land for generations.

The ants originally had a huge family under this lakeside， and every generation of queen ants led its officials and subjects to live here in peace and happiness. Suddenly， one day， many steel giants -- bulldozers， excavators， and big cranes -- came rumbling. In a minute， the peace was broken. All the small animals on the ground and underground began to flee for their lives： ants， cockroaches， crickets， dung beetles， grasshoppers， butterflies， dragonflies， cranes， egrets， sparrows， swallows， wild boars， and a family of wild ducks on the beach. From then on， the creatures here began to lead a wandering life. They had no fixed place to live in every day. They had to hide here and there until the Swan Castle was built.

Toutou was just a plain black ant. He was short， spoke in a low voice and weak. Perhaps for this reason， his brothers and sisters didn’t like him and always bullied him.

Toutou was very lonely. He usually went a long way alone to look for food.

If you see a small black dot on the distant horizon， that is the pitiful Toutou.

One day， Toutou， who was starving， followed a scent coming to a little boy. The boy had a piece of sweet bread in his hands. He was tearing the bread into pieces and throwing them to the ground. In front of him crowded a group of pigeons， sparrows， and wild cats， scrambling to eat joyfully. Toutou was too hungry. He went over， and a big piece of bread fell in front of him. Toutou got that big piece of sweet bread！ At that moment， Toutou was so happy that he almost fainted. Toutou hurried to carry the bread and ran back. Toutou wanted to tell his brothers and sisters that he could find such a big piece of bread， which was enough for the family for more than ten days. “I found it by myself. How capable I am！ See if you still look down on me！” Toutou trembled at this thought. He carried the bread and ran. But the bread was so heavy that Toutou was pressed to a tumble. Toutou climbed up and saw the little boy doubled up with laughter. The boy said， “Hey， don’t hurry. There is a lot here. Take it easy.”

Toutou stayed there and a lot of shiny liquid came into his eyes. “What a shame. Why am I weeping？”

Not a human had said such warm words to Toutou.

Not a human had shared bread with Toutou.

He was so grateful that Toutou wanted to kiss the boy’s hand. To his surprise， the boy’s fingers were green.

“My name is Lulu. What’s your name？” asked the boy.

“I am -- I am Toutou！”

“Take it easy. I won’t compete with you！” The boy laughed happily.

Toutou laughed， too. From then on， Toutou and Lulu became good friends. Toutou and his ant family moved to the Elf Garden. They made an agreement with Lulu， ensuring that they wouldn’t destroy anything in Elf Garden.

In addition to Toutou’s family， there were other households in the garden， the family of Butterfly Mary， the family of Sparrow Chirp， and the family of Oriole Cuicui.

Different from Toutou， Mary was the most beautiful butterfly as the youngest daughter in her family. Toutou always stayed on the ground， lost in thought. He looked up at Mary， flying everywhere in the sky. Mary could go anywhere she would like. Mary could always see many new strange things and bring all kinds of fresh stories to everyone. She was the “know-it-all” in this garden， and she liked gossiping so much. No news could escape from her eyes and mouth. She’s like a TV set that never shut down， or a tabloid that updated every day， or a network platform always on the air. Mary would bring any star gossip， news， cut-off notice， and weather forecast. Anyway， Mary was everyone’s news anchor. Besides， she was so beautiful. She had light wings， pretty clothes， and big， sweet eyes. Toutou couldn’t breathe at the thought of Mary. But Mary had never looked him in the eye. Who would respect a small and even ugly black ant？

Therefore， at the sight of Mary， Toutou was now sad and then happy.

They had a common neighbor -- a silent lizard Xiaoxi. Xiaoxi seldom came out in the daytime， and he was active at night. Xiaoxi was an orphan. He couldn’t find its parents， and lived alone at home. However， Xiaoxi was mature and looked after himself well. He didn’t miss his parents much because he had been alone since childhood. Xiaoxi never talked about his parents to others.

Xiaoxi and Toutou hit it off very well. They were both quiet guys. But Xiaoxi had many skills. His curled， long tongue in the mouth was like a magic wand. He could stretch out all of a sudden and swallow all the mosquitoes and bugs in the air in no time. Then he munched them with keen pleasure， which often shocked Toutou. Xiaoxi could also easily climb anywhere he wanted -- on the tall building， on the tree top， and even on the glass！ This also made Toutou envious.

In Toutou’s eyes， Xiaoxi was like a thinker who always thought over something enigmatic silently. Toutou didn’t dare to talk to Xiaoxi. Perhaps he was thinking about the most difficult philosophical proposition in the world. If there was a doctor or a scholar in this garden， it could only be Xiaoxi.

Toutou now tried to imitate Mary’s beautiful posture， then Xiaoxi’s learned style. But he always failed. Toutou was just Toutou， a small， plain black ant.

Li Muyu

Li Muyu is a national first-class writer in Sichuan Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles， a famous children’s literature writer， and the president of Music World Periodical Office.