The Small Favour

The next morning, Omar woke up before everyone else. He half believed that last night had been a dream, but when he climbed up to the attic, the radio was still warm, its needle glowing a faint blue.

He turned the knob, and Salma's voice came at once, as if she had been waiting for him.

"Good morning, Omar! Are you ready?"

"Ready!" he said. "What do you want me to do?"

"My grandmother told me a story," said Salma. "She said that her grandfather, when he was little, planted only one palm tree in this garden. If somebody had planted more seeds, we would have a whole garden today. I want you to plant seeds around the palm tree. Date stones, olive seeds, any tree you can find."

"That's all?" said Omar. "Just plant a few seeds?"

"Big things always start small, Omar," said Salma. "Every great tree was once a seed nobody could see."