Too Much Water

When Eve came back from her holiday, her beloved bonsai had exactly one green leaf left.

The neighbour who’d been plant-sitting had meant well, but mistaken yellowing leaves as sign of it not having enough water, rather than the reverse, and overwatered it catastrophically.

After accepting profuse apologies, Eve went to work. She had taken care of that plant for fifteen years, and wasn’t going to stop now.

She carefully removed the sodden earth and pruned those roots that had started rotting, and the branches connected to them. It did not leave much, just one of the main branches.

After re-potting, Eve kept checking soil moisture several times a day, and waited.

The last leaf yellowed and fell.

Eve kept up the routine for weeks, occasionally bending the branch slightly to test if it was brittle.

Until a few new buds appeared.