Seeds With In

 Mara always felt invisible.

In meetings, her words got lost between louder voices. At parties, she smiled quietly from the edge of the room. People liked her but they didn’t see her.

Sometimes, she wondered if maybe she wasn’t meant to be seen. Maybe she was just… background music in other people’s stories.

One cold evening, after another long day at work, Mara took the long road home. The street was almost empty. Near a cracked wall, she saw an old man kneeling in the dirt, planting small seeds in a patch of dry ground.

She stopped.

“Sir, those won’t grow here,” she said softly.

The man looked up, his hands covered in soil. He smiled, wrinkles deep as roots.

“They will,” he said. “The soil only needs a little care… and the seed needs to believe it can grow.”

Mara didn’t understand what he meant not at first. But those words followed her home, echoing in her chest like a heartbeat she hadn’t heard before. That night, she sat by her window and thought about her life.

She realized how often she’d buried her dreams in fear. How she’d told herself, “Not yet. Not me. Not good enough.” She had watered her doubts more than her hopes.

But what if she started small?

What if she just tried even once to believe she could grow?

The next day, she spoke up in her meeting. Her voice shook, but her idea was good. People listened.

The week after, she went to a painting class, even though she thought she’d be terrible. Her first painting was messy, but it made her heart feel alive. She began to say yes to small things: morning walks, new books, deep breaths. And slowly, something inside her changed. The fear didn’t disappear, but it grew quieter. The light inside her grew louder.

Months later, Mara passed that same wall again. The flowers were there tall, wild, and full of color. She touched one gently and smiled. She realized the old man had been right. The soil of her life had never been the problem. It was her belief that nothing could grow there.

Now, she knew better.

She had planted herself in hope, and hope had bloomed.

Solo.