“Yes, but you must not go far as it is getting late.”
“Very well, mother,” said Dorothy, “I’ll do everything you say,” and off she scampered to pick flowers.
It was a beautiful day in May and all the flowers were in bloom.
“Oh, how I wish I were a flower!” thought Dorothy. “They are such beautiful things and they make so many people happy.”
She walked along as happy as happy could be picking flowers and humming to herself. Presently she sat down to rest, and leaned her head against the trunk of a big tree.
Soon it grew so dark she could not see. She had forgotten that her mother had told her not to go far. She looked all around, but could not see a thing. It was black dark everywhere. Dorothy wondered why it was so dark.
“Oh, dear, what shall I do! there’s no place to go, and I can’t stay here.” She walked on feeling her way among the trees until she saw a light away up on the top of a steep hill. She climbed the hill in the direction of the light until she came to a little house. Out at the gate stood an old, old woman gazing up at the stars.
“Oh, please,” said Dorothy to the old woman, “help me out. I am lost from home and I do wish I could make somebody happy. Do you know how I can do it?”
The old woman thought for a minute before she said:
“Yes, I can turn you into a beautiful daisy, and you can grow here on the hillside, and you will afford somebody happiness.”