Ruby s Sunflower by Sally Stephenson As soon as Ruby heard about the contest, she decided she wanted to win. Ruby liked winning. Last year, she d won a prize for the best story and a green badge for swimming. 5 Ruby watered her sunflower every day. She put sticks around it to stop her dog, Spider, from digging it up. Grandad gave her some special plant food. Ruby watered the sunflower with the plant food, 10 and it grew and grew.
Saul was in Ruby s class. He lived two doors away. His sunflower was very tall. Ruby could see it from her bedroom window. I m sure mine is the tallest, she thought. Saul 15 never wins anything. The contest ended on Saturday. Mr Buckley was coming round to measure all the flowers. Ruby was so excited, she kept jumping around and getting in everyone s way. 20 Go outside and play, Mum said crossly.
Ruby went into the garden. Spider was excited too. They played fetch the ball, and Spider ran round and round, barking loudly. Suddenly Ruby s hand slipped. The ball flew straight at the 25 sunflower. Spider jumped after it. The stem of the tall sunflower snapped. Everything went very quiet. Spider stopped 30 barking. Ruby stared at the broken sunflower. She felt like crying.
Then she had an idea. She fetched the ladder and found a small, straight piece of cane. No one was 35 looking. Carefully Ruby pushed the cane into the broken stem till only a small piece was sticking out. Then she pushed the flower down onto the stem. The sunflower stood up tall again. It looked as good as new.
40 45 50 Ruby went out into the street to see if Mr Buckley was coming. Saul was practising basketball in his front garden. He missed almost every shot. Dad says I have to practise if I want to get on the team, said Saul. But I m not very good. Can I try? asked Ruby. The ball went in first time. I wish I was good at things, said Saul. He missed again. Just then Mr Buckley came round the corner carrying his ladder.
Hello, said Ruby. Can you measure my sunflower first? All right, said Mr Buckley. Ruby led the way. 55 That s the biggest yet, said Mr Buckley. Two hundred and ninety-five centimetres. That ll be hard to beat! He folded the ladder. I ll measure Saul s sunflower next, 60 he said. Saul was still playing basketball. Hi! said Mr Buckley. Let s see if you can beat 65 Ruby. She s in the lead so far.
Up close, Saul s sunflower looked just about as tall as Ruby s. Wow! Another whopper! said Mr Buckley. Will you hold the top of the tape? 70 Saul scrambled up the ladder. His fingers were tightly crossed. Saul never wins anything, thought Ruby. And I m cheating. Suddenly winning didn t seem so important. 75 This is great! said Mr Buckley. Two hundred and ninety-three centimetres. I think you may be the winner, Ruby said quickly. That s taller than mine, isn t it? 80 Mr Buckley looked surprised. Ruby shook her head. I ll tell you later, she whispered. Saul wasn t listening. He was punching the air with delight.
I reckon it might be, Mr Buckley said slowly. I ll tell you on Monday. Ruby followed Mr Buckley back out onto the street. Now what was all that about? he asked. Ruby told him. It was a good sunflower, she 90 said, but I didn t want to win like that. It wasn t fair. On Monday, Saul went up to collect his prize in front of the whole school. 95 And Ruby clapped louder than anyone. 85 illustrations by Kirsty Lillico