The old man and his granddaughter gently place the rose into the ground and play pat-a-cake as, avoiding the thorns, they tamp the soil around. He has now passed with earth tamped about, and each spring she prunes their rose to see it sprout. That girl now grown misses his help to tend the rose and wills his spirit to bud, to bless her love and innocence and fold her hands once more in his.