Fixing Mr. Feester’s Flowers

“Cookie! Here boy!” Justin shouted as he walked up the sidewalk.

“Maybe he’s over that way,” Justin’s best friend, Jessie, suggested.

The two kids wandered up the street searching for Justin’s dog. Suddenly, they heard someone shouting.

“Uh oh! That sounds like Mr. Feester,” said Justin.

The kids ran toward the neighbor’s house. Sure enough, they saw Cookie happily digging in a flower bed. Dirt was flying everywhere while an old man stood shaking his cane at the dog.

“Cookie, no!” Justin ran to take hold of his dog’s collar. “Sit. Stay,” he commanded.

“Stay!” Mr. Feester exclaimed. “I don’t want him to stay. He needs to go far away from here, like to the dog pound!”

“Oh no,” said Jessie. “Justin will take Cookie home, right Justin?”

Justin nodded. “I’m really sorry about the mess,” he said. “I don’t know how Cookie got out of our yard.”

“Well, you make sure he doesn’t do it again,” Mr. Feester said, waggling his cane in Justin’s face. “I just paid good money to get these flowers put in. Now they’re ruined.” The old man stomped into his house and slammed the door.

The kids walked the dog home. Justin’s mom came out to the porch. “Oh, I’m glad you found him,” she said. “I was worried he might get into Mr. Feester’s yard or something.”

“He did,” Justin replied gloomily.

Mom gasped. “What happened?”

“Cookie dug up a bunch of his new flowers. Now his garden’s a mess.”

“Well, we’ll figure something out—even if we have to go fix it ourselves.”

Justin’s face brightened. “Hey! Maybe I could fix the flowers. If I go and put them back in the dirt, do you think they’ll still grow?”

“They might,” Mom answered.

“I’ll help you, Justin,” Jessie chimed in.

“I’ve got some money, too,” Justin continued. “Maybe I could buy a few new plants to add so it looks better.”

Mom thought about Justin’s idea. “All right, I’ll call Mr. Feester and ask,” she said.

Soon it was all set. Justin and Jessie would start cleaning up and replanting the flowers that Cookie had dug up while Justin’s mom went to the store for some new plants to add.

The kids set to work, smoothing out the soil and making holes for the plants.

“Let’s put that one right here,” Justin instructed.

Jessie gently placed a wilted plant into the hole Justin had made. “I hope Mr. Feester likes this when we’re done,” said Jessie, glancing up at the window where the old man peered out. “Do you think he’s still mad?”

Justin nodded. “Yeah, but maybe he’ll feel better if we do a super good job.”

Just then, Mom’s car pulled up. She got out of the car, carrying a box of beautiful pink and yellow flowers. Ellie, Justin’s little sister, carried a small plant with purple flowers. “Here are the new plants,” Mom said cheerfully.

“What’s going on out here?” asked the old man, stepping down off his porch.

Ellie held out the plant she was carrying. “Mistuh Feestah! I bwought pwetty pupple flowahs. Come see!” Ellie tugged on Mr. Feester’s hand and led him to the flower bed.

“Hmm. The garden is looking much better,” he said, sounding surprised.

“Yay! Much bettah, much bettah,” Ellie sang as she danced around in the green grass.

“We’re not done yet,” said Justin. “Mom got some new flowers to put in so it’ll look super good again.”

Mr. Feester turned to Justin’s mom. “That wasn’t necessary.”

“Oh, it was Justin’s idea,” Mom replied. “He helped pay for them.”

“What? I don’t understand. Why would you go to all this trouble?” the old man asked.

“I did it ’cause I didn’t want my dog to be punished and sent back to the pound. I figured the only way was to fix your garden myself. Cookie sure couldn’t fix it.” Justin smiled.

“Cookie, Cookie,” Ellie chanted then suddenly stopped and shouted, “Mommy, will you fix me a cookie? I’m hunggy!”

Everyone laughed, then Mr. Feester went inside for a plate of cookies and some lemonade while the others got back to work. Even Ellie helped pat down the dirt around the new plants. Finally, it was finished, and the garden looked as fresh and new as it had before.

The next day, when Justin walked his dog up the street, he was surprised to see Mr. Feester outside with the garden hose.

“I can water the flowers for you,” offered Justin.

“No, thank you, Justin,” said the old man, smiling. “I’ve decided you’ve done more than enough. I noticed how you worked so hard and gave so much to pay for what Cookie had done.”

“That’s because I love him,” Justin explained as he patted Cookie’s head.

Mr. Feester turned off the water. “Yes, I know. What you did reminded me of something I heard a long time ago in church about what Jesus did for sinners.”

Justin sat down beside Mr. Feester on the porch. “You mean you’ve heard how Jesus died to pay for the wrong things we’ve done?” asked Justin.

“Yes, like you paid for your dog’s bad behavior.” Cookie nudged Mr. Feester’s hand with his cold, wet nose. “Yes,” the man continued, “I remember learning that it’s because of Jesus we can be forgiven.” He looked down at Cookie and rubbed the dog’s soft ears. “And so, I guess I can forgive you too, Fella.”

Cookie licked Mr. Feester’s hand and barked a noisy, “Thank you!”