Swallow Bring Açaí Gift for the Kind Boy

My kids love to be characters

as I write stories.

I wrote kind girl and a witch

based on my daughter, Sophia.

Son wanted one too,

so wrote swallow and Saahil.

Today, another story

got scripted in my mind.

I had to paint it and write it down

before it flew away,

so, let me share.

Last spring,

when the swallows were here,

Saahil was two and a half.

He stood in the backyard

eating boiled corn on the cob,

surrounded by pink hollyhocks

and yellow coreopsis.

He saw the swallows

and called out,

“Swallows, come down,

eat some corn!”

A year has passed,

the swallows are preparing

to fly again to California

from their native South America.

In the rainforests there,

açaí fruit grows on palms,

popular superfood.

As the swallows braced

for their long journey here,

they remembered Saahil’s kindness.

The little boy had offered corn.

The boy went house to house

asking people not to burst crackers

to not scare our chicks.

So, this time,

they decided to bring him a gift.

They tucked tiny açaí seeds

into their feathers

and flew thousands of miles

toward California.

Saahil stood in the backyard,

shouted happily,

“The swallows are back!”

The swallows swooped low

and dropped the seeds.

Saahil and mummy smiled,

hoped palm would grow one day.

A gesture of kindness

never goes to waste.