“Hey Kit,” Din Din said as he greeted his garden caretaker. “Ready for your day out?”

“Yes, but you know I’m not one for adventures,” replied Kit with a reluctant smile. Yet, Din Din knew that she would never refuse anything he said. That’s the kind of loyalty the cat had shown him ever since she had come to live in Din Din’s garden.

“Neither am I, Kit, but we need to liven up the garden with some new variety of plants. We have to explore some wilderness spots of D’Land. Burrow the rabbit was telling me that wildflowers are the most beautiful kind,” explained the dinosaur as the two trudged off even beyond the Dark Forest. “I want to bring back some wildflower saplings to make our garden more colourful.”

The two creatures were beginning to tire as they trekked towards the deepest end of the Dark Forest. “This terrain is wild but the flowers are gorgeous,” admitted Kit as she saw the vibrant band of flowers growing in profusion.

“These flowers are Yellow Trout and the Orange Coneflower,” Din Din said. “I saw these in Burrow’s garden. Let’s take a sapling of each of these.” Gently, the two began to dig out the plants along with their roots from the moist soil. Then they carefully packed each in a damp jute patch.

“Look at that flower,” exclaimed Kit. She was pointing to a bright red flower with a black base.

“Yes, what a striking flower,” agreed Din Din. “Let’s take this as well.” Carefully placing the saplings on his broad, green back, the two prepared to return to their garden. “You have a good night’s sleep, Kit. Tomorrow’s Sunday and we have a whole day to plant these saplings.”

The next morning, Din Din was off to his garden as the sun rose. “Din Din, at least have breakfast and go,” Mrs Dee insisted. But Din Din, eager to get his paws in the dirt, kissed his mother goodbye and rushed off for a fulfilling day of gardening.

But Mrs Dee was not one to let one of her young ones stay hungry. By midday she set off to Din Din’s garden with a basket of fruit.

“Ma, what are you doing here?” asked Din Din as he saw his mother enter the garden.

“Your garden looks incredible,” Mrs Dee said as she gazed at the array of bright flowers, rows of neatly trimmed hedges and planted vegetables. “Now please, you and Kit have something to eat.”

“Thank you so much, Ma,” replied Din Din gratefully as he began to taste the mangoes his mother had brought with relish.

“See, Mrs Dee, these are the new flower saplings we have planted,” shared Kit politely.

Mrs Dee surveyed the freshly planted saplings. “Delightful! But what is this red flower?”

Mrs Dee seemed to survey the red flower with interest but suddenly her expression changed. “I don’t like the energy of this flower, Din Din,” she said finally.

“What do you mean, Ma?” quizzed the puzzled dinosaur.

Mrs Dee shook her head as if to clear her mind. “Nothing, it’s just that this flower makes me uncomfortable. It doesn’t give me a good feeling and I have a very strong sixth sense. You should ask one of the other gardeners what this flower actually is. It’s not wise to plant something you don’t know anything about.”

Din Din nodded, “Okay, Ma. I’ll ask Burrow to take a look at it.” But as fate would have it, weeks flew by and Din Din and Mrs Dee both forgot about the flower.

A few weeks later, on a Sunday morning, Dazel flew to Din Din’s garden early in the morning to pick some flowers for Wiz Rooster for Teacher’s Day. “I’ll just pick a few beautiful buds from Din Din’s garden to make a bouquet for Wiz Rooster. I’m sure Din Din won’t mind.”

Suddenly, Dazel spotted the mass of bright, red flowers. “How gorgeous! I’ll pick these for the rooster. It will surely make him happy.”

With those words the duck pecked at the stalks of the red flowers with her beak trying to pull the flowers out gently. “Ah, there are some black seeds in the middle.” Dazel thought to herself.

Nibbling on a few, she realised she enjoyed the taste. “Interesting flavour,” she mused. When she finally took flight, the stalks of the red flowers clamped in her mouth, she felt dizzy. “Oh dear,” she murmured. “I think I need to lie down.”

Just then Kit, who had gone for a morning walk with her kittens, returned to find Dazel sprawled on the ground, the red flowers strewn around her. “Dazel?” Kit cried, nudging the bird with her paws.

“Kit,” Dazel mumbled groggily. “I …I don’t know what’s wrong with me…” “I’ll fetch Din Din,” Kit cried in alarm. She scamp­ered off to Din Din’s cave home as fast as her ting legs could carry her. When Din Din’s mother heard about Dazel’s collapse she shook her head, “Oh dear, it’s those red flowers. I thought I told you to investigate about them,” she said. But Din Din was already running to the garden.

When he saw Dazel semi-conscious, his heart began to sink. With trembling paws he hauled the Duck on his back and rushed to Dr Trish’s clinic.

“What has she had,” the triceratops doctor inquired. She opened the duck’s orange beak and saw the remains of the black seeds inside.

“What is this? Poppy seeds?” she said in amazement. “Where did she get these?” the doctor demanded.

“F…from the r…red wildflowers we picked from Dark Forest,” stammered Din Din.

“These red flowers are actually poppies; one species, Papaver somniferum, is the source of a drug which if had in excess can be dangerous,” explained Dr Trish. “Picking flowers randomly for your garden without investigating their properties is not a good idea,” the doctor pronounced.

“I realise that now,” answered Din Din miserably. “Will my friend be alright?” “I’ll have to keep her here to monitor her. The after-effects of this drug are worse,” the triceratops explained.

“You know, poppies have long been used as a symbol of sleep, peace, and death: Sleep because the opium extracted from them is a sedative, and death because of the common blood-red colour of the red poppy in particular,” Dr Trish elucidated.

“This is the last time I experiment in my garden,” Din Din unburdened his soul to Kit as they saw poor Dazel fall in and out of consciousness.

“Yes, Din Din,” vowed Kit anxiously. “Half knowledge is a fatal thing.”

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