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My husband and I have a garden on a microscopic scale. What I mean to say is that, we live on top of a mountain and we garden. Most of our garden is on a strip of ground next to our driveway. From the top of the garden to the bottom we grow tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and yellow squash. One year my daughter, thirteen at the time, wanted to plant some watermelons. We gave her a spot at the top of the garden.

She planted the seeds in a little hill and watered them faithfully. We really didn't think they would come up. But, the leaves sprouted, the vines crept along the ground, and we all watched for watermelons.

She checked the garden everyday. She could not wait for the first sign of the watermelons to come. One day there was a flower and she was imbued with excitement. The flower gave birth to a small dark-green watermelon.

One Saturday, a few weeks later, my husband and I were at a small family owned vegetable stand. In one of the bins were several small dark-green, faintly striped, watermelons. We looked at each other. With a glint in our eyes we bought one of the little melons. We laughed all the way home and tried to imagine my daughter's surprise when she checked the garden. We laid the miniature watermelon among the leaves and vines with the written side face up. In small print across one side was written,"$2.99". Now all we had to do was wait.

We have a small patio in front of our house. We waited there sipping tea and laughing. She was returning from a friend's house. When she arrived, she stepped out of the car and waved. Then, she glanced at the garden, looked at us, and then quickly moved for a better look at her watermelon patch. She squealed and looked up at us beaming. "There's a watermelon!", she exclaimed as she grabbed the little melon and brought it to us. She kept saying, "I can't believe it, I grew a watermelon! Look at it isn't it beautiful!" We agreed that it was a beautiful watermelon. I have never had much of a poker face, so, I tried my best to contain my laughter. "I am going to eat it." she said and she hurried off into the house to cut it.

We grinned at each other and went back to sipping our tea. We calculated how long it might take her to realize that there was a price on her watermelon. "Wait a minute." she said as she walked across the patio to the door. "This watermelon...has a price on it!" she called out while sporting a very confused look. She turned to us clutching the watermelon. "You set me up!" she yelled. All we could do was look at her and laugh. By the time I wiped the tears from my eyes she was staring at her $2.99 watermelon and was shaking her head. We have never let her live that down!

Learn more about this author, Kellene Sampson.
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