The Adventures of Keiko Haubjed

Starring Keiko in

Lemon Balm

By Tsunami_Holmes

12-year-old Keiko sat on a stump in the middle of her large backyard. She was examining what appeared to be a mint leaf. The only thing was, it didn't smell like mint, it smelled like sweet lemons! She had found it on a small 2 foot tall bush growing by her rope swing. Taking the leaf, she stood up and walked to her house.

As she opened the back door, her little brother, Dean, came running towards her, "Keiki! Keiki! Come!" Dean blurted out. Dean called Keiko, "Keiki" sometimes.

"What? What is it?" Keiko asked as she was dragged through the house.

"I found plane!" Dean called excitedly, he showed her a toy airplane that Keiko knew used to be hers.

"Ah, do you like it?" Keiko questioned.

Dean nodded with delight.

"That used to be my old toy! I don't play with it now as much, would you like to keep it?"

"Yes!" Dean was almost exploding with joy.

"Ok then, go ahead, keep it," Keiko smiled, but felt slightly sad as her memories of the plane came flooding back to her. She shook her head, as if to shake away the memories. She walked out of Dean's room, leaving him to play with the plane. Keiko just had to ask her mother about the strange leaf. After searching for Veronica in four rooms of their house, Keiko decided to check the garage. Opening the creaky door, she poked her head through to search for a sign of Veronica. Nothing. Keiko sighed and turned around to find her mother staring straight at her.

"Woah!" Keiko exclaimed, jumping back.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you!" her mother apologized.

"It's okay, I just wasn't prepared, that's all. I was looking for you!" Keiko explained.

"Sorry again, I was out in the front talking to Helen," Veronica confessed. Helen was Keiko's neighbor. She was a retired scientist.

"Oh, what did she have to say?" Keiko asked.

"Oh, not much. Only that she recently found a bone in her backyard. She was researching it for the longest time until she finally came to me. Because of her poor eyesight, she had mistaken it for a real bone! Truth was that it was a toy dog bone from her next door neighbor!" Veronica laughed.

"Really?" Keiko asked enthusiastically.

"Yes! After I told her this, she hobbled back home happily,"

"Funny! Well, we might need to see her again, I found a really interesting plant by the rope swing!" Keiko exclaimed.

"Will you show me?" her mother asked.

"Well, I have one of the leaves right here," Keiko held her hand out to reveal the strange leaf.

"Interesting," Veronica whispered to herself, "It appears to be a lemon Balm leaf!"

"Lemon Balm?" Keiko questioned.

"Yes, lemon balm is a perennial herb that is part of the

mint family, Lamiaceae. I believe it naturally grows in Europe, so perhaps one of the neighbors has a bush near here and one of the seeds got carried to the rope swing. If I remember right, it was used in the middle ages to heal wounds and treat bites and stings. You can make tea, ice cream, candy, and many more things from Lemon Balm."

"Ice cream? Are you serious?" Keiko asked.

"Yes! And, it has many side effects too," Veronica went on.

"Like what?" Keiko urged her on.

"Well, it limits stress, replacing it with calmness. You do lose some of your alertness though. It also helps you sleep better and increases your appetite!" Veronica smiled.

"Wow. I love having one of these in our own backyard!" Keiko admitted.

"Good, now, it's time to go back to math," Veronica reminded her.

"Uh, why? I hate math!" Keiko complained.

"Would you like it to go quicker?" Veronica suggested.

"Yes!" Keiko relaxed, hoping that she would have a shortcut in todays lesson.

"Well, let me tell you the last secret I know of about Lemon Balm," Veronica waited, for dramatic effect, "Lemon Balm helps increase your math speed and doesn't limit your accuracy!"

"You're kidding right?" Keiko raised her eyebrow at her mother.

"No! Go look it up if you want, but it's true! It has been tested!" Veronica smiled, "go ahead and eat that leaf, then go and do your math, you'll feel better."

"Ok! Thanks mom!" Keiko plopped the leaf in her mouth and ran to her desk, anxious to finish her math quickly. Her mother just stood where she was and marveled at God's amazing wonders.