Bessie's comfort for Robert through the metaphor of the bulb

““Well, don’t you see,” Bessie went on, “that the bulbs was just like Charlie and baby sister. The bulbs looked dead, didn’t they?” “Yes, they looked like little dried up onions,” said Robert. “But they are not dead. Mamma said the flower was just asleep all curled up nice an’ tight inside an’ that when we planted it down in the ground an’ watered it an’ let the sun shine on it, that after awhile it would wake up. That is what we done with ours. It took-it such a long time to wake up an’ I used to watch an’ wait an’ wish it would hurry. After awhile it really did an’ was the prettiest flower you ever saw, with shiny white petals an’ a goldy heart, an’, oh, the sweetest smell, it just filled the room.” — The Young Woman's Journal 22:4”