The Warm Place

The little phoenix had one shiny coin.

She held it in her wing.
She turned it over and over.
She loved it very much.

"What should I do with my coin?" she asked her grandmother.

Her grandmother thought.

"You could spend it today. That would be fun. But then it would be gone."

"You could give it away. That would be kind. But then it would be gone too."

"Or," said her grandmother, "you could put it in the warm place."

"What is the warm place?" asked the little phoenix.

Her grandmother smiled.

"The warm place is where you put something special when you do not need it yet. It is quiet. It is safe. It is patient. And it has a secret."

"What secret?"

"Things that rest in the warm place... grow."

The little phoenix was very curious about this.

She and her grandmother walked deep into the nest, to a special spot lined with soft ash and feathers. Her grandmother showed her a tiny hidden hollow.

"This is your warm place," she said. "Anything you put here will be safe. Anything you put here will rest. And anything you put here will grow."

The little phoenix held her shiny coin tight.

It was hard to let it go.

But she put it in the warm place.

And then she covered it gently with ash.

The next day, the little phoenix wanted to peek.

"Not yet," said her grandmother.

The day after that, the little phoenix wanted to peek again.

"Not yet."

"How long do I have to wait?"

"Until you have almost forgotten about it."

So the little phoenix tried to forget.

She played.
She sang.
She helped her mother.
She made new friends.
She ate breakfast and lunch and dinner.

And one morning, many weeks later, she remembered.

"My coin!" she said.

She ran to the warm place.

She brushed away the ash.

There were now three coins.

The little phoenix's eyes went wide.

"How?" she gasped.

Her grandmother just smiled.

"That is what the warm place does, little one. When you can wait, the warm place rewards you. The longer you can wait, the more it rewards you."

The little phoenix looked at the three shiny coins in her wing.

Then she looked at the warm place.

And very carefully, she put two of them back.

That night, the little phoenix slept very well.

Because she knew there were two warm coins resting under the ash.

Waiting.

Growing.

For a tomorrow not yet here.