Theresa

There once was a little girl named Theresa, who lived with her mother in a very hot village in Africa. One day her mother came home and showed her a very new and unusual way to grow vegetables, and Theresa was very excited. She and her mother worked hard to make sure their garden grew nicely, and once the plants were ready, they cooked and ate the green leaves together. One otherwise ordinary day, a Visitor came to see Theresa and her mother. The Visitor wanted to know if they liked their new garden and if it made their lives any better. While they were talking, the Visitor reached out to touch one of the little ducks that they took care of in their yard, and after finishing their conversation, thanked Theresa and her mother, and left. 

The next day, while the Visitor was meeting with some other people who also had gardens, the little  girls mother sent a messanger to find the Visitor. The Visitor was told that Theresa had been crying since she had left - saying that the Visitor had wanted the duck, and blaming her mother for not giving the Visitor the duck, and saying that she wanted to be frie

nds with the Visitor and now that wouldn't happen.  Theresa and her mother managed to reach a compromise: they would give the Visitor 2 pigeons instead of the duck. Before arriving to accept her gift, the Visitor asked if there was a way to show gratitude but refuse the gift, and she was

 told "no" she had to accept the gift. So the Visitor went back to see Theresa and thanked her for the gift, and then went home to figure out what to do with her new birds.

Theresa and her mother Susan with their garden

Theresa and I with my new birds 

(that now belong to my housekeeper Grant)