Before leaving for a week, Julia asked her neighbour to look after a fern. She wrote three instructions: WATER ON TUESDAY, TURN TOWARD THE WINDOW, TALK TO IT IF YOU LIKE.
When Julia came home, the fern looked wonderfully green but faced the door. A chair stood beside it.
“I turned every day,” the neighbour said. “And I talked to it.”
“Why is it facing away from the window?”
He glanced at the chair.
“I turned toward the window,” he said. “You didn’t say to turn the fern.”
Julia looked at the chair. “At least you had a good conversation.”