"They are tuning in with nature," said Saari. "They like you. You must like plants."
"Why yes," replied Dorothy. "I'm very fond of growing things. I have my own little garden back in Kansas."
"Well, the Conciencez know that," said Saari. "That's why they came to see you. They would never have come if you didn't like plants."
"Do they like plants, too?" asked Dorothy.
"Yes indeed," replied the Princess. "The plant world is their world — they are the protectors and keepers of the plants. Without them plants would not be so beautiful and would hardly grow at all."
"My goodness," said Dorothy. "I thought that if plants had light and water and food in the soil, they just grew."
"That's what most people think," said the Princess. "But if they could see the Conciencez at work, they would be very surprised.
"Plants to the Conciencez are as important as people are to us. They protect them and care for them. Each Conciencez has many plants under his charge. They start work at dawn with a great joy and happiness. They draw their feelings of joy from the flowers and other plants which are themselves filled with happiness at the coming of each new dawn.
"The Conciencez hover near the plants they are in charge of and try to find out if anything is wrong — sort of like a doctor making the rounds of his patients. They often stay with a flower if it's not doing too well; petting it and loving it like a baby until it feels better. They will work also with people who love plants and will help them, although they don't like to be seen unless they know that you will understand and not be frightened. As you can see, they have a resemblance to humans, but their facial features can barely be made out. Their eyes are almost nonexistent, with no eyelids or lashes. They have a slight suggestion of a nose and of ears and just barely a slit for a mouth, although if you look closely, you will see a funny yet merry appearance in their faces. They have no hair at all, as you can see. They cannot hear or see as we do, but they feel the radiation of light and sound with their entire body. They don't eat food; but they gain their nourishment from the perfume of the flowers by bathing in the various fragrances daily. They don't have inner organs as we do, but where the ear would be is a glowing pulsating golden light. They tune the pulsation"s to the pulsing vibrations of the plant, and become one with the plant. Remarkable, isn't it?"
"It's just amazing," said Dorothy. "People don't know the half of what's going on right under their noses — it's as if they were half asleep."