Moonflower

In a village set among grey hills under a persistently cloudy sky, a girl named Sophie often walks alone. With her chestnut hair tied in a red ribbon and her mustard-yellow cardigan held close, she looks for hidden places. On a misty morning she discovers a gap in an old stone wall, and behind it lies a forgotten garden overgrown with weeds and wild roses. At the garden's center grows a strange plant with silver leaves and one tight bud, and when Sophie whispers to it, the place seems to have been waiting for her.

Her grandmother Rose explains that this is the Moonflower, which opens only once every hundred years under a full moon, and that its light can drive away gloom. Caring for it takes patience and kindness, so Sophie returns night after night with a watering can, tending the weeds, the snails, the roots and the bud. Written by Yavuz DEMİRKIRAN, this quiet tale for young readers and for reading aloud can be found on Online Masal.