TITLE: Matthew's Mountain By Beth Meeks 09/25/08 |
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Matthew’s Mountain
Matthew loved the mountains. He loved to stand and look up as the land seemed to grow taller and taller in front of him and the trees climbed higher and higher up the mountains. He loved the sound of a stream as it rushed over the rocks racing down the inclines down towards the valleys.
But sadly Matthew didn’t live in the mountains. He lived in the flat lands where you could stare across the land for miles and miles and the streams were often much quieter as they trickled slowly across the land.
So every year Matthew could not wait for their annual trip to the mountains. He would get so excited when his dad would announced it was time to get ready for this trip that he would start packing his suitcase days before to make sure he was ready when his parents finally said those wonderful words- “Time to pack the car and get moving.”
One day on one of these trips Matthew came up with what he believed to be a wonderful plan. As he and his parents hiked along one of the many wonderful nature trails they came upon a rocky area. Matthew looked at the rocks and picked up a few and studied them carefully. They were so beautiful with their smooth rounded sides and their reddish tint. They reminded him of a large seed much like the seeds he helped his parents plant every year in their garden.
“I’m going to take this rock home and plant it,” he said to his Dad.
“Plant it?” His father asked. “Why are you going to do that?”
“Because, I’m going to grow a mountain.” Matthew answered.
His parents smiled and chuckled at this idea. “Oh really.” His mom said. “And what makes you think a mountain will grow from a rock?”
Matthew thought a second then replied, “Why not? Isn’t a mountain made from lots of rock?”
His dad gently touched his shoulder. “OK. You can try. But don’t be too disappointed if it doesn’t work.”
Matthew smiled contently and slid the rock into his pocket. He couldn’t wait to get home and begin work on his own mountain.
When they arrived home Matthew ran into the empty field beside his house. It was the perfect place for his mountain. He carefully dug a hole and gently placed his “mountain rock seed” into the ground. Then he shoveled the dirt back over the rock.
“Seeds need water”, he thought and ran back to the house to get a bucket to water his mountain seed.
Every day he tended his mountain. He pulled weeds. He watered his seed. And he waited.
One day just as he had about given up, he saw something magical. Just above the spot where the mountain seed had been planted a tiny hump appeared. “Could it be?” he thought. “Is my mountain actually beginning to grow?”
The next day when he checked on his mountain he was sure it was a little taller. He decided to ask he parents to look at his mountain. When his dad saw it he scratched his chin and said “Yes, there does seem to be a little hill of dirt there.”
“Now Matthew”, his mom asked, “are you sure you didn’t shovel some dirt there to make that hill.”
“No, Mom”, Matthew replied, “It just started growing there on its own.”
At first Matthew’s parents were not convinced but as the hill continue to grow larger and larger they soon had to admit that something strange was happening where he had planted that rock.
The hill continued to grow and grow and grow. Until one day it was no longer just a hill- but a real mountain. Trees began to grow on Matthew’s mountains. Little streams began to rush down the sides.
People from all over came to stare at the strange site of a mountain in the middle of the flat lands. “Well that’s what I call making a mountain from a mole hill- or a rock in this case” Matthew’s neighbor Mr. Riley said. Scientist came from all over to study this mysterious mountain. None of them could explain how this could happen. “It’s just not possible”, they would say as they shook their heads in disbelief.
One day a reporter from a local TV station came to do a report on this mountain. Matthew’s parents agreed to let the reporter interview Matthew about his mysterious rock seed and how he grew the mountain.
“OK, young man,” the reporter asked as he placed the microphone in front of him, “how did you manage to grow a mountain from a rock?”
Matthew thought and then gave the only answer he could think of. “I just believed that if I tried it, it could happen.”
The reporter smiled, “So it grew because you believed it would.”
Matthew shrugged his shoulders and answered, “Yes, I guess that was all there was to it.”
Matthew continued to love his mountain for the rest of his life. When he grew old enough, he built a cabin near the top for himself and his new wife. As the years went by he retold the story to his children and eventually his grandchildren of how he had planted a rock one day and believed that it would grow into a mountain – and that was just what happened.
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