Night Gardener

The neglected community garden keeps fixing itself overnight, and Dahlia is determined to catch the mysterious night gardener and uncover their heartfelt secret.

Dahlia loved the community garden at the end of Mulberry Lane, even though everyone said it was a lost cause. Last summer the tomatoes had grown so tall they leaned over the fence like nosy neighbors. But this spring the garden had gone quiet and brown. The old caretaker, Mr. Okafor, had moved away, and nobody had taken over.

'It looks so sad now,' Dahlia whispered to herself one Saturday morning, leaning on the gate. The weeds were knee-high, the watering cans lay tipped over, and a faded sign read PLEASE WATER ME in handwriting so faint you could barely see it.

She sighed and decided to do one small thing. She pulled exactly one weed, dropped it in the path, and went home for lunch. It wasn't much. But it was a start.