Klara and the son
No points for guessing the name of the book I recently finished reading. I was very much pleased by Klara’s affinity towards the sun and how she kept seeking it (she had no other choice), so then when I moved our little money plant growing inside a bottle of water to a spot on the balcony thinking that it could get more sunlight, J immediately named it Klara. After the naming, Klara quickly gained prominence in our lives. We spoke to her and about her and we liked the fact that she gave no responses.
Meanwhile in the alternate social media universe, I had been coming across a lot of posts on parenting. They enlightened me, they also terrified me, how was I turn into a patient, calm, understanding, far-sighted and accepting person around the kid? And expectations — how was I going to keep them down? Maybe I should start practicing being that person. In that case, why not I practice being a parent to Klara! This idea which I thought was very smart and exciting had come to me one morning while I was examining Klara’s leaves.
As soon as that thought arose and was accepted, I changed the water in the bottle. Good start I thought, being responsible, understanding needs and providing nourishment — basics covered. Then I examined Klara again, the roots and leaves were drying up in a few places, I wasn’t pleased. My head was being flooded with thoughts.
“Why are you drying up now? I brought you outside, I changed your water, what else do you want!”
“No no no, I need to show love, are you drying up baby, don’t worry, you will be fine, there are two new leaves coming up, I am so proud of you”.
“And these two leaves have been this way for a long time, when will they ever open? I saw a post in Insta yesterday about an indoor money plant with at least twenty lush green leaves and that guy who posted it was so surprised at how quickly they had grown. Meanwhile, look at you over here, just five leaves and you can’t even keep them all green.”
“Nope! Those thoughts came up in haste, I didn’t mean them, what I mean is, you can grow at your own pace, you are special and I will love you no matter what.”
My gaze fell onto the potted plants in the two houses nearby, I imagined getting the ones I liked among them and thought of where all I would keep them. I spotted a climber in the second house and wondered if it was a money plant. I turned to Klara and I felt a pang of annoyance.
“It’s been three days since I brought you outside and the two folded leaves still haven’t opened up.”
“Oh wait, are you going to dry up completely Klara? Is that why the leaves are not opening. Did I not care for you well enough Klara?”
“Well I remember this money plant kept it office. I don’t think it ever saw sunlight, yet it grew so well. Here there is enough sunlight and I change the water, so this definitely has to be a better environment.”
“Okay enough! I am sorry Klara, I know each plant is different, each one grows at its own pace, each one decides for itself when to dry up its leaves and when to cover the place with foliage, I understand, I really do. It’s just that I always had this dream of having a money plant here which would climb onto the window’s grill and I would guide it with thread to form this green border around the window. How nice would that have looked! It was a harmless dream and I thought you would make it come true. After all, it’s a difficult time now and I thought things like this would bring me happiness. That’s all I wanted.”
Klara stood there, absolutely still. The gush of air from my deep sigh wasn’t strong enough to sway her.
I examined Klara thoroughly one more time, looking at the each leaf and root carefully. “Maybe I should just get another one”, I thought to myself and went inside, convinced of what an amazing parent I was going to be.
