Thirty-four Strawberries

One strawberry plant produced thirty-four strawberries in a single season.

All summer, its stems were heavy with fruit.

The gardener filled bowl after bowl, and still more strawberries ripened. Every time she looked, another one was ripe.

The following spring, the plant was slow to return.

Its leaves were smaller. Its flowers were fewer.

By summer, only a handful of pale strawberries appeared.

The gardener noticed. She watered the plant, tended the soil, and let it rest.

By the third summer, the plant was full and green again.

It didn't produce as many strawberries as before.

But when the gardener tasted the first one, she smiled.

It was sweeter than any of the thirty-four.