by Lucy Simpson
Tales from the Magic Tree – Volume 1
Author: Lucy Simpson
Editor: Dr. Stephen Simpson
Publisher: Mind Your Peace & Cues
The Girl that Surprised Everybody
The playground at Cherry Tree Primary School was always a busy place at break time. The children ran around, the teachers chatted, games were played, and there was always lots of laughter. Every year in the playground the seasons changed - just as they always had.
Every Autumn a fresh batch of excited and sometimes nervous children arrived with their new bags and shoes, and soon made new friends. Every winter the same children arrived huddled in thick coats and scarves. Sometimes the snow arrived too, and the children quickly learnt how to make snowmen and snow angels.
Every Spring the leaves and trees burst into bloom. As the days lengthened and the sun shone brighter the children were increasingly excited by delicious thoughts of ice-cream and the upcoming summer holidays. At the end of term the eldest ones left for their new schools, and so the cycle repeated itself, as it had always done.
In this ever-changing landscape there was one thing that always stayed in the same place. The big oak tree in the corner that stood proudly, taller than the school tower. It was very old and very wise and swayed in the wind. Its branches would be full of green leaves in the summer. The same leaves would turn orange before they started to fall off as it got colder and winter came. Although the seasons changed, the big tree stayed in the same place, and the leaves always came back.
The tree heard a lot of stories, which was one of the reasons why it was so wise. Just like people really; the more stories we hear the wiser we become. When we have a problem we can remember how other people found answers in the past to help us now.
Every evening a wise owl came to sit on its branches, and its wisdom seemed to rub off into the bark of the tree, making it even wiser still. The tree loved it when the children came and sat under his branches and told him stories. He especially liked to hear what they had been doing. Although he could not talk, he certainly could listen. He was a very good listener now because of his many years of practice.
It wasn’t only the small children that came and told the tree their problems; it was older children and their teachers too. It seemed as if just about everybody liked to have five minutes on their own when they could sit on the bench under the tree, and have a peaceful time to just think. The tree was always happy to have company. Even though he couldn’t speak, he knew for certain that the children knew he was listening to their every word.
He was happy to hear all their stories, even though sometimes the stories were very sad. Even though he had heard so many sad stories over the years they still had the power to make the tree feel sad too. Whilst the magic tree always felt upset when the children were upset, he was never truly depressed. He knew that things would work out in the end, just as they always had.
Even though things might be difficult at the moment, he remained calm because he knew that whoever was sitting on the bench below him would sooner or later discover how to solve their problem. He didn’t need to worry. He stayed calm and still, all he had to do was to listen and provide shelter.
The magic tree had heard so many stories over the years it felt as if each story had generated its own special energy. He was sure he could feel this energy flowing through his leaves, and surging up his trunk. He was so full of memories that his branches felt as if they were practically bursting with all the stories, and bursting with the answers to the children’s’ problems too.
Now he has decided to share these stories with you so that you can discover these secrets too. Perhaps one day you might need some wise words. Close your eyes and imagine you are sitting under the magic tree. Just ask yourself,
‘What would the magic tree say?’
One day a few years ago there was a girl called Laura that sat under the tree crying. She had a grazed knee and her shorts had grass stains all over them. It was summer time and Laura had been in P.E.
Everybody was happy because it was nearly the summer holidays, and they had been playing games in most of their lessons. This meant that sports day was coming up soon; it was always on the last day of term. Parents could come and watch too. After the events had finished the head teacher gave the prizes. Every year he made the same speech and told the same joke that nobody understood. The kids didn’t care though. They were far more interested in the party, the doughnuts, sweets, and the lemonade. This was going to be a fun day, but for Laura it was making her cry.
Earlier in the morning she had been in PE, and the class were practicing and deciding what races they were going to enter for sports day. Laura didn’t like running and she didn’t really like the jumping and throwing events either. Her teacher told her that everybody had to do something, and if she didn’t then she wouldn’t be allowed to go to the party afterwards.
Laura desperately wanted to go to the party. She didn’t want the other kids in her class to think she was stupid. She was always the last one to be picked for the teams, and the other children groaned when they discovered that Laura was on their team. This really upset her, and even the thought of it gave her a bad pain in her stomach.
Laura also wanted to cry because her Mum had not helped her much either. All her sisters were good at sport, had loads of friends, and always had lots of fun. Laura had told her mum yesterday how she felt but her mum just ignored her. She told Laura that she was bad at sport and always would be. She should just concentrate on reading her books, and give up; she could never change.
Laura had cried silently in her bed last night when her mum said that, and that was why she was so upset today. She couldn’t eat her breakfast, and felt her whole body was trembling in the classroom. The worst thing by far was in the PE class when the teacher brought up sports day again. Laura knew that when she felt bad like this her body just started breathing faster and faster, and there was nothing she could do about it. Sometimes she would faint, and feel a bit better when she woke up.
Laura knew she was breathing fast again, and that something bad was going to happen soon. When she felt like this her dad had told her to think of her next horse riding lesson. She loved Stevie and his big floppy ears, and sometimes this helped.
Not this time though. Laura knew she would do something embarrassing. All the boys would laugh at her, and then the girls wouldn’t talk to her either. So when the teacher told everyone what races they were going to do Laura thought she would be sick. She didn’t like running, and especially not in front of other people. It was too late now, there was no choice. She so desperately wanted to go to the party after sports day; so that meant she had to do the running race.
Laura couldn’t eat her lunch. As she lined up with the other girls for the practice race her knees were shaking. She looked around and all of the other girls were laughing and joking.
‘Why should I worry?’ thought Laura. ‘Maybe it will turn out OK?’
Laura didn’t have much time to think as the whistle suddenly blew and they were off. Laura’s heart was racing but she tried as hard as she could, she ran and ran. It didn’t seem to be making any difference. It was like one of her dreams when she was being chased by a dog and her legs felt like they were stuck in thick oozing mud.
Laura hadn’t even reached the first corner, but already she was last by a long way. She felt that, everyone was looking at her, and that the race would never end. She could see the finish line now, and was using all her will power to make her legs run faster. Suddenly, she tripped! It was horrible, her knee was very sore and bleeding and now everybody really was looking at her.
This was even worse than
she had imagined. How was she ever going to run in the proper race in just a few minutes? The thought made her eyes fill with tears once again. The teacher came over and told her to go and get changed, and then go to see the nurse. The teacher said,
‘Don’t worry, Laura. Not everybody can do sports. You are good at other things. You are such a good reader, and you love your books’.
That was the last thing Laura wanted to hear. It made Laura feel even more upset because all she wanted was to be able to run and not worry about being last, or about people making fun of her. Nobody seemed to believe that she could do it. Everyone, even her mum, had told her to give up, and now she really wanted to. She didn’t care what people thought about her anymore.
Luckily for Laura after she had been to the nurse it was break time. She had a few minutes before the next race, so she had come to sit under the tree. She didn’t want to speak to anyone because she still felt very sad, and even worse nobody had even noticed. All the other children were running around the playground and hadn’t tried to come and find her.
Laura sat under the tree and was thinking about everything that had happened so far today. She thought,
‘I don’t want to give up, I want to prove everyone wrong and show them that I can do it. But, how can I?’
Laura was still thinking about this puzzle when a teacher came and spoke to her. This wasn’t the teacher who had told her off, but another one that she really liked. This teacher was kind and always said nice things to her. Miss Smith asked what was wrong and Laura told her the whole story right from the beginning.
Miss Smith sat and listened. She didn’t laugh or tell her to hurry up and go back to class. At the very end Miss Smith said that she could understand why Laura was so upset and said that she would help. She brought out a piece of paper and gave Laura a pen. She then asked her to write down some things. She asked her to write down five sentences which were-I can run fast, I like to run, I can do it, I am a winner, I believe this.
Laura didn’t really understand the point of all this writing, but Miss Smith always had good advice so she listened to her. Miss Smith also told her to say those sentences in her head or out aloud five times a day. She could say them when she was walking to school, at break, at lunch, after tea and then very importantly, just before she went to sleep. Also when she was in bed, and her eyes were closed, and she was drifting off to sleep because she was very tired. Miss Smith told her to think about sports day.
She told her to imagine the green field, imagine the people watching, imagine the bright white lines painted on the grass, imagine the cheering kids, imagine the colourful bibs they would be wearing and to also feel the excitement, feel the energy, feel the fun and feel the power that was inside her.
Laura interrupted,
‘But Miss, I don’t feel happy about the race, how can I feel these good feelings? I feel upset and worried!’
Miss Smith simply replied,
‘That is fine, Laura. I know why you feel those feelings, you have had a tough time but now this has changed. You want to do well, you want to have fun and you want to feel happy when you are running.
So now we are only going to think about those feelings. We will not think about feeling sad about this race. If you find your mind wandering back in that direction it is very important that you say those five sentences again quickly in your head. Do you understand me?’
‘Yes, I think so, Miss.’
‘That is good, but I haven’t finished yet Laura. There is one more thing you must do. When you are in bed and feeling those happy feelings you need to imagine the race. You need to imagine you are running. This time you are running easily, you are enjoying it and you are having fun. This race can go through your head like you are watching it on TV. Imagine this is on TV, although the main character looking back from the screen is you! She has your clothes on, she has your hair, it’s you and you’re winning the race and smiling!
Do you think you could watch that on the TV inside your brain? It takes some imagination, but it’s like a dream and I know you like to have nice dreams.’
‘Yes, I can do that Miss!’
Laura was feeling much better now after speaking to Miss Smith and ran back to her class. Miss Smith stayed sitting under the tree and thought for a moment about Laura. When she left she looked as if she was skipping through the air easily. Maybe it was something different in her eyes? Or maybe it was just because Laura felt comfortable with her, and so wasn’t worrying so much. Perhaps that was why she was already finding running easier?
Laura followed the instructions that Miss Smith had given her and enjoyed watching the movie of her running every night before she went to sleep. She liked being the star of the show! She had also kept saying her five sentences out aloud when she was alone, and she knew them by heart now too. Laura trusted Miss Smith and she no longer felt like crying. She couldn’t believe it, but she was even starting to feel excited about sports day now.
The other girls still didn’t believe Laura would ever learn to run like them, and neither did her mum. Whenever anybody said anything she just repeated the five sentences in her head quickly, and concentrated on feeling how happy she knew she would feel if she really did win the race.
The next time that Laura bumped into Miss Smith in the playground she told her that she was doing her five sentences. The days passed quickly, and after two weeks it was sports day. Laura was still nervous, but this time she wasn’t feeling scared, just excited.
She put on her PE kit and sooner than she expected she was standing at the starting line again. The whistle blew. Laura ran, and watched the finish line move closer and closer. The race was going just like the race that she had watched every night in her head before she went to sleep. She was in the lead now! She couldn’t believe it. Her, Laura, the not sporty girl was winning! What was happening? All the children had laughed at her the last time when she tripped, but they weren’t laughing now!
She quickly pushed those thoughts aside and felt amazing; she was having so much fun. She crossed the line just in front of Lisa. Lisa was the girl that everyone thought was going to win, but no, Laura was the winner. She couldn’t stop smiling, she was so happy. Everyone said well done and best of all she won a medal to take home. This was the best day at school ever.
After lunch Laura was about to go home, but she saw Miss Smith sitting under the big oak tree so went to say hello. Miss Smith asked how the race had gone and Laura told her everything. Laura was so happy she was still smiling, and Miss Smith was smiling too.
Laura’s mum called for her to come home with her, so she had to go. Before she could leave Miss Smith quickly told her,
‘Well done, I always knew you could do it, Laura. You can do anything you put your mind to. You are a special girl and remember what this feels like, you deserve it!’
Miss Smith always supported the students but through her years of watching many sports days, she also knew that unfortunately there could only be one winner in a race. She had learnt that sometimes winning wasn’t the most important thing. For Laura today that had been the best thing, but sometimes not winning can also make you stronger, and make you appreciate it more when you do win.
These bumps may be hard to deal with at the time, but looking back on them you will be able to see that in some way they made you stronger, and made you the person you are today. Laura was so happy with her win, but more importantly she had learnt that when you make a goal and put your mind to something you are more likely to succeed. The process she learnt will help her with her other goals in the future too.
Laura turned and ran home with her mum. Miss Smith left too and then gradually all the teachers soon followed, and it was again time for the summer holidays.
The big oak tree was happy that Laura wasn’t sad anymore and was pleased that there had been another happy ending. Laura looked over her shoulder one last time at the Magic Tree. Was she imagining things, or was one of the big branches waving at her?
&
nbsp; The Boy That Never Cried
George was a big boy, and he did everything that boys were meant to do. He played football, he liked riding his bike, he jumped in puddles and he made girls scream. He was strong and he was cheeky, and always had a mischievous smile on his face. On the outside he was everything that a normal boy looked like; but on the inside it was a very different story.
George lived with his grandparents and hadn’t seen his parents since he was about one year old. He would never admit it, but he couldn’t even remember what his parents looked like. This was a hard thing for him to say because it made him feel sad to think that his parents had abandoned him. If he couldn’t remember them, then perhaps they must not remember him either? So did that mean they didn’t want him? These things would go through George’s head most nights before he went to sleep. He couldn’t ask his grandparents about his mum and dad in case they got mad; he didn’t want them to think he didn’t like them. So every night when they asked him if he was OK, he would say’ yes’, even though inside he was feeling very worried.
George wasn’t very good at school - well that’s what the teachers told him. This is why he was sitting under the tree today. He had run out of the class when the teacher had told him off. He didn’t understand maths and found the classes impossible. He was embarrassed to tell the teacher the truth so he joked around instead. He threw paper at the teacher and pulled the girls’ hair. When the teacher shouted at him it made him angry, and so he ran outside.
One day the headmaster called George to his study, and asked him in a kind voice if he understood the classes? George replied that of course he did, although inside he meant to say no, but it just wouldn’t come out. George always found it impossible to admit if he was upset or confused. He didn’t know what to do or who could help.
George was sitting under the tree when Miss Sommers walked past. She could see that he was upset so took him to her classroom. She could tell that he wasn’t in the mood to talk so she laid out a puzzle on the desk for him to work on. The puzzle was in the shape of a boy and each piece had lots of details on. The eyes were sparkly, the finger nails were a bit grubby, the laces were untied and the boy had mud on his cheeks. George worked on the puzzle quietly while Miss Sommers worked on her computer.