Seeds We Can't See: A Short Story

by Hailey Atara

The first seed Amara planted was not in soil. It was planted on the day she left her home. At sixteen years old, Amara carried only a backpack and a small notebook as she and her family joined thousands of others fleeing from conflict. The journey was long and uncertain as every mile away from her home felt like another piece of her past slipping through her fingers. When her family finally reached safety, Amara expected life to become easier. Instead, a different challenge began. Her family lived in a temporary house as her parents searched endlessly for work. Everything was unfamiliar, the language, the streets, and the culture. Some days, it felt as though she traded a struggle for another.

But every morning, Amara woke up and planted another seed. She studied, helped, volunteered, and worked harder than she ever had before. Though nothing seemed to change, months passed as years did too and the seeds remained invisible beneath the surface. One afternoon, Amara's teacher handed back her exam paper and at the top was the highest score in her class. For the first time in a while, Amara showed a smile. Her seeds began to grow and more opportunities came her way. She earned a scholarship that allowed her to continue her education and her parents eventually found stable jobs. The family was still far from the home they once knew, but they started building a new one.

Years later, Amara stood before a group of newly arrived refugee students. Looking through their anxious faces, she saw who she once was. “You may not see it today,” she told them, “but every effort you make matters so don't give up as you are planting seeds you can't see.” The students listened quietly. Some of them had traveled across countries. Some had left family members behind. Some of them wondered if they could truly have a future ahead of them. Amara understood those feelings as she had lived them. As Amara looked across the room, she realized she wasn't alone. And she was there to uplift the people that are going through what she once felt. Sometimes the greatest harvest is simply knowing that all these sacrifices were not made in vain!