Although the temperature was pleasant, around 75 degrees, the sky was a little overcast with the threat of a spring shower in the air. This was the kind of day that Laura Periwinkle loved. She liked the sun, but too much of it made her uncomfortable, and after a while she would have to look for a shady spot. This was the kind of day that was perfect for her.

She sort of skipped along on the way to school, singing to herself, as her best friend Hillary Hydrangea fell in along side of her. Hillary who was quite a bit taller than Laura said, “you know you really have a beautiful voice”. Laura turned, tilting her head up a little toward her friend and smiled at the compliment. “I really mean it, you do have a beautiful voice, you should definitely try out for the school play”. Laura turned again, still smiling, but with a little back and forth shake of her head shared her feelings.

“I don’t think so, I’m not nearly as pretty as a lot of the other girls, and Ms. Chrysanthemum would never pick me”.

The girls came to the school crossing, where hundreds of ants were busy scurrying back and forth on their two-lane trail. The girls waited with the other youngsters for Mrs. Belladonna, who was the crossing guard to stop the traffic and allow them to cross safely.

She was really a nice lady who took her important job very seriously. At the right moment, she stepped out into the trail and held up her red sign with the word “STOP” written on it and the ants came to a stop, although a couple of them bumped into each other making the kids laugh. The ants were always so busy, they never seemed to look up, and even when they were standing still they were moving around. When everyone was safely across, Mrs. Belladonna stepped aside and held up her other sign which was green and had the word “CRAWL” written on it, and the ants were off again, zooming about their business.

As they entered their classroom, a group of the younger Roses of various colors were excitedly discussing the upcoming tryouts. They were very friendly and really popular with all the other flowers, and just looking at how beautiful they were convinced Laura even more that her decision not to tryout for the school play, was the right one.

Ms. Chrysanthemum walked into the class, and everyone settled down. As they did everyday, the class started the school day with the singing of the Thumburb national anthem, a song about the sun and the rain and the other important things to the world of flowers. After that Mrs. Chrysanthemum started the day’s lesson which had to do with which foods were good. Again, like people, certain flowers liked some foods and some liked others.

During recess the area was all abuzz, with everyone talking about the school play and who was going to tryout for what parts. The funny thing was that no one even knew what kind of play it was going to be: A drama, a comedy, a musical or whatever. Ms. Chrysanthemum, the teacher directing the play, had kept it a secret.

The male lead would probably go to Sweet William, the most popular boy in school, who everybody called Billy. He was just so nice, always smiling and saying nice things, so careful to never hurt anyone’s feelings, that no one would ever guess that in some things he was just as insecure as Laura. Especially when it came to girls.

Later that afternoon nearly everyone was at the amphitheater where the school play would be held. Ms. Chrysanthemum had announced that the play would be a musical called “Passion Flower”. A lot of the kids tried out including Hillary, who being tall, got a part as a dancer in the second act. “Laura, you just have to tryout, she whispered to her friend, your voice is just so beautiful”. With a gulp of nervousness, Laura raised her hand, and went up on stage and gave it a try. She was so nervous she had to close her eyes all during the song, as the beauty of her voice singing “Over the rainbow” filled the theater. She couldn’t believe her ears as the amphitheater exploded with noise, and when she opened her eyes everyone was clapping and cheering and giving her the thumbs-up sign. “You know Laura, everyday when I heard you singing the National Anthem, I knew you had a marvelous voice, but you had to decide to tryout by yourself”, Ms. Chrysanthemum said as she hugged her.

“If Laura can summon the courage to get up on stage and sing in front of all of us then I can be brave enough to ask Hillary if I can walk her home” Billy thought to himself, and he did. “I would like that very much, Billy”, replied Hillary. She always liked Billy but never even thought that he noticed her. “Just let me tell my friend Laura”.

“Laura, Billy asked if he could walk me home, okay?” “Of course Hillary, that’s great. He’s so cute. You know Hillary I learned something today. The worst thing you can do is not try, because even if you don’t succeed, at least you tried, and that’s not failing.”

The two friends looked at each other and smiled.