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Who Stole the Blue Hydrangeas

© Janice Oberding

A friend recently told me this story about her aunt Mildred who loved to garden. When Mildred and her husband retired from their teaching jobs and moved to a small coastal town she set about planting all her favorite flowers. Soon her front yard was a riot of color. Tall, stately, Pink Ladies, puffy red geraniums, poppies, sweet smelling roses and lovely blue hydrangeas made her yard the envy of the neighborhood.

One cold, fog shrouded morning Mildred was just finishing up her morning newspaper when she glanced out the front window and saw her blue hydrangeas being pulled from the bush. Slamming her teacup down, she raced out the front door to confront the thief.

"Young Lady! Stop stealing my flowers this minute!"

The child who couldn't have been more than nine or ten years old was dressed in tattered old clothes. When she stared up at Mildred it was with the saddest pair of eyes she'd ever seen. Mildred felt her heart melt. Here it was barely past 40 degrees and the little girl was barefoot and in an old cotton play dress.

"What is your name?"

"Cindy." The child replied shyly.

"Okay Cindy, you may have those that you've already---taken, but please don't take anymore."

The little girl stared blankly at her, turned and skipped down the street.

"You're welcome." Mildred said sadly.

A week went by and Mildred noticed that the Hydrangeas were starting to look very bare. Must be that little Cindy again, she thought. Every morning she waited on the porch for the young flower thief to make an appearance. When the child appeared at the hydrangea bush and started pulling flowers from it Mildred jumped up.

"Aha" she announced, walking toward the child. "You're at it again."

The little girl ignored Mildred and kept yanking at the flowers. When she saw that Mildred was not about to retreat, the child started to skip down the street. This time Mildred followed her and watched as she ran around to the back of an old church.

That's odd, Mildred thought. Surely no one lives back there. Just to satisfy her curiosity she walked back to where the child had gone and saw that there was nothing except a small overgrown garden in back of the church.

"May I help you?" Asked an elderly man who came from the church's back door.

"I'm sorry I was following a little girl who---"

"Did she have some blue hydrangeas?" The old man asked kindly.