Little Ema loved secrets. And the greatest secret of all was hidden just beyond the fence of her garden. It was her grandmother's garden, and everyone called her Granny Herb. It wasn't an ordinary garden full of carrots and kohlrabi. Not at all! The most fragrant herbs in the world grew there, and each one had its own story.
Ema's best friend, Cinnamon the bunny, insisted the garden was magical. "I can feel it in my whiskers," he would whisper whenever they peeked through a hole in the old wooden fence. "That one smells like sunshine, and that one over there smells like summer rain!"
One day, however, everything was different. They came to the fence, but the garden was silent. Granny Herb, who was always smiling among her green treasures, was nowhere to be seen. Only an old straw hat hung on the small gate, and pinned beneath it was a note.
Ema carefully unpinned the piece of paper. Only one word was written on it: "SEARCH." And next to the note lay a small, worn-out notebook.
"Search? But what are we supposed to search for? And where is Granny?" Ema asked, but only a gentle breeze playing with the leaves on the trees answered her.
Cinnamon nudged the notebook curiously with his nose. Ema opened it. On the first page was a beautifully drawn plant with shiny, round leaves. Beneath the picture, there was no name, just a single sentence: "My scent will remind you of a favorite food from Italy." And at the bottom of the page was a large, unfinished word: "M _ ."
"What does that mean?" Cinnamon frowned, scratching behind his ear with a long paw.
"It's a riddle!" Ema's eyes lit up. "We have to find this herb and figure out what letters go in that word. Let's go!"
They entered the garden. The air was full of different scents. Green bushes, both small and large, grew all around them.
"How will we find it? They are all green," said the bunny sadly.
"We have to use our senses, just like Granny Herb taught us," Ema said with determination. "First, we look. We're looking for a plant with round and shiny leaves."
They walked from one flowerbed to another. Cinnamon would occasionally sniff something, wrinkling his nose in a funny way. Ema carefully compared every leaf with the drawing in the notebook.
"This one has leaves like little needles, it's not the one," she said at one bush. "And this one has fuzzy leaves."
Suddenly, Cinnamon stopped and took a deep breath. His whiskers trembled with excitement. "Ema, come here! This smells like... like that amazing thing your mommy puts on pasta! Like pizza!"
Ema ran over to him. In front of them was a small bush with leaves exactly like the ones in the picture. When Ema carefully plucked one leaf and rubbed it between her fingers, a wonderful, spicy aroma was released.
"You're right! It's basil! And it smells just like pizza!" Ema exclaimed. "So the word is... M-A-K-I-N-G! Making!"
She quickly wrote it down in the notebook. They were both thrilled with their first success.
"Brilliant! We're the best detectives!" Cinnamon boasted, hopping cheerfully.
Ema turned to the next page in the notebook. There, a herb with finely serrated leaves was drawn. Beneath the picture it said: "Touch me and you will feel a chill, even when the sun is shining." And below it, another incomplete word: "F _ ."
"A chill?" wondered Cinnamon. "How can something be cold when it's so warm?"
"We have to find out," said Ema. "We're looking for a plant with serrated leaves."
This time it was easier. A whole clump of such plants grew not far from them. They looked as if they were lightly coated with a silver powder.
"This could be it," Ema whispered. She carefully touched one leaf. She didn't feel anything special. She tried gently chewing on it. And that's when it happened!
"Wow!" she gasped in surprise. "It's like I put a small piece of snow in my mouth! It's cooling!"
Cinnamon was curious. He dared to take a little bite too. His eyes widened in amazement. "Brrr! It's like licking an icicle! But a tasty icicle!"
They both laughed. They knew they had found mint.
"So the word is..." Ema thought aloud, counting the letters. "F-R-A-G-R-A-N-T. Fragrant! The first word was MAKING, the second is FRAGRANT."
She proudly wrote it down and turned to the last page. A herb was drawn there, which didn't look like a herb but more like a tiny tree with hard needles. Beneath the picture was the final riddle: "My scent will remind you of a walk in the forest after the rain." And the last word: "S _ ."
"Needles! I know those," said Cinnamon. "Pines and firs have those."
"Exactly! We're looking for a little forest in the garden," Ema smiled.
Their search did not take long. In a sunny spot by a stone wall grew a dense, dark green bush with firm, fragrant sprigs that truly looked like needles. Ema broke off one sprig and sniffed it.
"Oh! That's the exact scent! Like when we were in the forest collecting pinecones," she said dreamily. It was rosemary.
"And the word will be... S-O-U-P. Soup!" added Cinnamon, who was now closely watching Ema's finger on the paper.
Ema read all three words in a row. "MAKING... FRAGRANT... SOUP."
She looked at Cinnamon, and Cinnamon looked at her. It dawned on them both at the same time.
"Granny Herb is in the kitchen!" they shouted in unison and ran towards the house.
The kitchen door was ajar, and from inside wafted the most wonderful aroma they could imagine. It was a mixture of all the scents they had discovered that day. Inside, a smiling Granny Herb stood by a large pot.
"You found me, my little gardeners!" she said cheerfully. "I knew you could do it."
"You weren't hiding, you made a game for us!" Ema realized.
"Of course," Granny winked at her. "I wanted to see if you have learned to listen to what the herbs whisper. And now that you know my secret ingredients, you can help me finish the best herb soup in the world."
Ema was tasked with adding a few basil leaves to the soup, and Cinnamon, very carefully, one tiny mint leaf for a fresh taste. Granny explained that the rosemary was already in the soup because it needs to cook longer to soften.
Later, as the three of them sat at the table eating the fragrant, delicious soup, Ema felt immensely proud. It was not just any soup. It was a soup full of sunshine, forest, and little secrets that she and Cinnamon had uncovered together.
"From now on, we'll take care of the garden together, alright?" Granny suggested. "You are my chief helpers."
Ema and Cinnamon eagerly agreed. They knew that Granny Herb's mysterious garden had many more fragrant adventures in store for them. And maybe, children, you also have a herb in a pot at home. With your parents' help, try to smell it. What does its scent remind you of?