The Tree of Wonder

\' child_name \' woke with a start. His
alarm clock was ringing out. It was the
morning of his school play.
It was exciting but
Scary!

Just then, there was a knock on the door.
“Wakey, wakey sleepy head, you’ll be late for
school.” It was his dad. “I don’t want to go,”
\' child_name \' replied. “Of course, it’s your school play,”
his dad said, taking in \' child_name \'’s worried face.
“Right,” he said, “come with me.” “Where are we
going?” asked \' child_name \', as his dad marched his
downstairs and out of the back door.

He walked them
both up the
garden path and
towards the
Greenhouse.
They went inside.
"Look at this
gorgeous garden,
you helped
your mum do
this, it shows
creativity,
teamwork and
determination.” \' child_name \' took in what his dad was telling him, and he started to
feel better. Then his dad took his hand and whisked them both
back up the garden path and into the kitchen. He opened the fridge
and pointed to a cake. “You made this for Grandma’s birthday. It’s
fantastic and such a lovely thing to do for Grandma.
He smiled as he closed the fridge door.
“You’re an incredible little boy,
and I’m very proud of you
for doing such good things.
And good things come to
good children. Now go
and get ready for
school.” With that
\' child_name \' walked
through the
hallway towards
the stairs.
he smiled.

“Good things come to
good children,” \' child_name \'
said as he passed the
front door. All of a
sudden, a large
envelope fell through
the letterbox
and hit the mat with
a thud. On the
front, it said,
“To \' child_name \', from
The Fabler!” “For me?” he said to herself, “who’s the Fabler?”
he opened it. Inside was a large book, and on the front,
it said “The Tree of Wonder \' child_name \'’s
Adventure.” “My Adventure?”
\' child_name \' said, feeling quite
Baffled!

Just then, the
book started to shake.
It fell out of \' child_name \'’s hands
and landed on the floor by his feet.
A bright light shone out and filled
the whole room. \' child_name \' suddenly
felt very light. He looked down; his
feet had left the floor. He was
floating. There was a big
Whooooooosh!! Then everything
went black.

Suddenly \' child_name \' was in a forest, surrounded by trees
and flowers. Just then, he felt something
move from underneath him. He looked
down to see two feet sticking out, boots
on, and two odds socks hanging over the top.
“Erm!” said a muffled voice, “can you please get off
me.” \' child_name \' jumped up, he saw that he had sat on
top of what looked like an elf. “I am so sorry,”
he said, confused, “I didn’t
mean to squash you.”

The elf jumped up
and dusted himself
off. “My name is
Oddsocks,” he said,
holding out his hand to
shake \' child_name \'’s. “Hi,
I’m \' child_name \',” he
replied, as he shook
his hand. “I was just
in my hallway, and
now I’m here; all a
bit confusing, really.”
“Well,” said Oddsocks
“seeing you’re here,
you might as
well make the
most of it.”
“Maybe you can
tell me where I am.”
\' child_name \' said. “It’s the
Enchanted Forest,”
explained Oddsocks,
“you’re here because
you’ve been a good
boy and good things
come to good
children,” he continued,
“now let’s get
Cracking! ”

Oddsocks and \' child_name \' set off into the
forest. They were only walking for a few
seconds when all of a sudden,
there was the
sound of
crying.

Just in front of them was a clearing,
and in the clearing was a dragon.
“Is that a dragon?”
whispered \' child_name \'. “Yes,”
said Oddsocks, “it’s very
upset; let’s go
and see.”

“But aren’t they supposed to be dangerous?” asked
\' child_name \'. “Dragons are like bumblebees;
they’re only dangerous if you upset them, ask him why he’s
crying,” said Oddsocks, “go on; it’s your
adventure.” \' child_name \' took in a deep breath. He tiptoed
towards the dragon. “Er, hello there,” \' child_name \' quietly
said. The dragon sniffed and looked up at him. \' child_name \'
could see that despite being huge and scary,
it had very kind eyes. “What’s your name?”
he said. “Boris,” said the dragon.
“That’s a nice name,” he said.
“Thanks,”said Boris. “What’s
made you feel upset?”
\' child_name \' asked.

“Maybe if you tell me what the matter is,
I might be able to help.” said \' child_name \'.
Boris dried his eyes with his hanky. “Really?” he
said, “well alright then, my problem
is, I can’t fly anymore. I could fly before, but for
some reason, I can’t now.” explained Boris.
“Did something happen to your wings?”
\' child_name \' asked.

“No,” Boris said. “I was in school, and Barnaby said
I was rubbish at flying, and it made me feel like I
just couldn’t do it anymore.” Well, \' child_name \' knew what
was wrong here. Barnaby was a bully who had picked
on Boris and told him something untrue. \' child_name \' felt
quite cross. He looked at Oddsocks, who was
shaking his head, also looking very cross.

“But it doesn’t matter what Barnaby thinks; it’s
what you think of yourself that really counts,”
said \' child_name \'. Boris, the dragon, listened carefully.
“Do YOU think you can fly?” asked \' child_name \'. “I did
it perfectly before.” Boris answered. “Well then,”
said \' child_name \', “why have you believed Barnaby?”
“Because he said it,” Boris replied.

Oddsocks came out from behind the bushes. “Hello,
I’m Oddsocks. It seems Barnaby might not have
been telling the truth. Some people find it hard, to
be honest,” he explained. “That’s why it’s so important
that you believe in yourself and what you think,
NOT what others think.” he continued. “You need to
start believing that you CAN fly; try standing
tall and saying I CAN FLY over and over again, the
more you say it, the more you believe it.”

“Ok,” said Boris, and he stood up, raised his head and
said, “I can fly, I can fly, I can fly.” “Now flap your
wings as you say it.” Oddsocks explained.
Boris began to flap his ginormous wings and his feet
left the ground. He looked down with a massive grin
across his face; he continued to say,
“ I Can Fly! I Can Fly! I Can Fly! ”

Higher and higher, he went
above all the trees in the
forest. Soaring through
the air before gliding and
somersaulting. Oddsocks
smiled at \' child_name \', and
before you could say, “Flying
Dragon!” Boris swooped
down and scooped up
Oddsocks and \' child_name \'.
“Hold on,” shouted Boris,
“I’m going to take you to
my special place!” And with
that, he flew them towards
the heart of the Enchanted
Forest. \' child_name \' noticed a
soft glow coming from the
trees to which they were
heading. “What’s that?” he
asked. “Wait and see,”
replied Boris.

Boris glided with ease
towards the ground
and landed perfectly.
\' child_name \' and
Oddsocks climbed off
and looked around
them. It seemed
darker than before,
and the air felt warm
and still. What
\' child_name \' saw next,
took his breath away.
There was a huge tree
standing on its own.
All its leaves were a
vibrant green, twinkling
as tiny stars fell from
the branches.

“It’s the Tree of
Wonder; if you sit
under it, it fills your
thoughts with amazing
things,” whispered Boris,
“would you like to
try?” he continued.
\' child_name \' looked at Boris.
He wasn’t sure. Boris
took \' child_name \'‘s hand and
guided him to the foot of
the tree. The beautiful
stars sprinkled all
around his. He felt
warm, and his eyes felt
heavy. He closed
them and fell into a
deep sleep.

He began to dream. In his dream, he was at
school and on the stage. He had performed
the show. The audience was cheering and
clapping. Instead of feeling nervous, he felt
brilliant and so proud of himself.

Then the audience faded away, and he could see
nothing but colours swirling in and out. When it cleared,
he was in his school playground. Without thinking,
he walked up to a group of girls and boys playing and
asked if he could play with them. He didn’t feel shy
at all. They turned to him with big smiles. He was just
about to start playing with them when
his dream was interrupted by a voice.

“On Guard!” the voice said. \' child_name \' opened
his eyes. He could see someone standing
holding a sword. “I demand you come
forth and deliver your reasoning!” the
voice said firmly. \' child_name \' froze.
There was a Knight in shining armour.
He was very tall and
strong looking.

Just then, a star floated down from
the tree in-front of them. The Knight drew
a deep breath, and the star went straight
up his nose. He let out a huge sneeze
AHHHH CHOOO!! The sneeze was so big he flew backwards
and landed on his bottom. “Are you alright?”
asked \' child_name \', helping him to his feet. He
noticed that his armour legs were much longer
than they needed them to be. “Oh darn it!” he
said, dusting himself off. “Your armour legs
are very long, maybe that’s why you lost your
balance?” \' child_name \' explained. “I know,
but I need them as I’m so short,” he
continued. “I need to be tall,
brave and strong.”

“But why’d you need
to be tall to be brave and
strong?” asked \' child_name \'.
“Because people won’t take
me seriously,” the Knight
replied, “they’ll
laugh.” \' child_name \'
was baffled by this.
“Anyway, I’m Lancilittle.” he
said. “I’m \' child_name \',
and this is my friend
Oddsocks." \' child_name \'
replied. Just as he did so,
the skies went dark.
“It’s the Evil Witchy
Elvaria. She’s a very
naughty lady. We
better hide, or there
will be trouble.” And
without further ado, they
scrambled behind
the Tree of Wonder.

Witchy Elvaria appeared. She was
dragging a Unicorn on a rope. “Oh no,”
whispered Lancilittle, “she’s captured a
Unicorn; she’s going to steal its magical
healing powers.” “What do you mean?”
Whispered \' child_name \'. “A Unicorn has the power
to heal and make you feel better if you are
unwell.” “Do you think she might be feeling
unwell?” asked \' child_name \'. “Maybe?” said
Oddsocks. “Come on, you sniffling thing, get
a move on.” Witchy Elvaria said, scolding the
Unicorn. “We can’t let her do this.” exclaimed
Lancilittle, and with that, he grabbed his
sword and jumped out
in front of her.

“On Guard!” he firmly said. Witchy Elvaria
cackled at Lancilittle as he stood in front of
her with his pants showing; he was so
focused he didn’t notice. She raised her wand
and sparks flew out straight at
Lancilittle. “Let the Unicorn free!”
Lancilittle said in a big brave voice. “No!”
snarled the witch, “she’s mine.” she continued
as she shot another spark at
Lancilittle. The spark hit the ground
just in front of him.

\' child_name \' was impressed with
Lancilittle’s bravery. He wasn’t on
his tall armour now. He began to
move from side to side and
around Witchy Elvaria. He
managed to make her rap herself
in the rope that she was holding the
Unicorn with. She was trapped.
“That’ll teach you!" said Lancilittle
triumphantly. Witchy Elvaria was
not impressed. Lancilittle undid
the rope from around the
Unicorn’s neck and set her free.
She flew straight off into the sky!

“You were so brave and didn’t need your tall
armour.” explained \' child_name \'. Just as he spoke,
Witchy Elvaria, burst into tears. “You shouldn’t be so
mean!” said Lancilittle with a stern face. “Is it
because you need the Unicorn’s magical powers?”
\' child_name \' asked. “I’m so lonely.” replied Witchy Elvaria.
\' child_name \' remembered what his dad had always said
to his. To treat others, the way you would want to
be treated, with kindness. “Capturing the Unicorn isn’t
the answer,” explained \' child_name \' “if you were kinder
then, people would want to be your friend, and you
wouldn’t be so lonely. “Ok, I’ll try my best.”
said Witchy Elvaria, smiling.

Suddenly a mist started to
surround \' child_name \'. “It’s time for you to go.”
Oddsocks said. “But I haven’t said goodbye!” said
\' child_name \'. “Don’t worry,” said Oddsocks. “We’ll see
you again as long as you are good."
he said, winking. And with that, the mist grew so thick that
\' child_name \' could no longer see anything. And again, there was a big
“ Wooooooooooooooosh!! ” then everything went black.

\' child_name \' opened his
eyes. He was sat on
the floor by his front
door and the book
was lying next to his.
His dad walked into
the hallway. “What
are you doing sat on
the floor?” he said,
“come on you’ll be
late for school, are
you still feeling
nervous?”
he asked.

“No dad, I feel just fine.” \' child_name \'
replied as she walked up the
stairs to get ready for school.

The End!