by Diana Cooper
Tara hung her head for a moment, but her angel looked at her with such love that she was soon smiling again.
“Remember Tara,” she said. “There’s nothing you can do or say that will stop me from loving you.”
The Unhappy Dog
When Mum collected the children from school on Monday, Tara was very excited. Her teacher had decided to change Tara’s reading programme and she had really enjoyed today’s special lesson.
“I think I will soon be reading just fine Mum”, said Tara with a huge smile on her face. She didn’t tell her Mum how she had asked her angel to help her, and how a soft golden warm energy had surrounded her in the classroom, helping her to relax and concentrate.
Mum hugged Tara and wondered what kind of miracle had occurred for her little girl to suddenly be so happy about reading. They held hands and set off for home with a spring in their steps.
At the end of their road they passed by a very dingy house with long uncut grass and weeds in the front. Sometimes they could hear a dog howling inside and once they saw it scratching at a window and barking. “It’s not right,” said her Mum every time they passed it. “Someone should do something about that poor dog.” But no one ever did.
That morning they had heard a man shout at the dog to be quiet and then they heard it whimper. Quietly Tara asked the angel of animals to please help the dog. At lunchtime she repeated her request and asked that the dog be taken somewhere where he could be happy and safe.
As they passed by the house on the way home from school they saw a nice-looking elderly lady park her car outside the house.
“Are you coming to take the dog?” Tara asked her.
“Hush Tara,” said Mummy. “It’s none of our business.”
But the lady stared at Tara in astonishment. “How did you know? He was my daughter’s dog and since she’s been ill my son-in-law can’t cope with him. He phoned me up at lunch time and said the idea had just popped into his head to ask me to look after him.”
“Thank you angels,” whispered a smiling Tara. She knew where the idea had come from.
They watched as the lady opened the front door and brought out a bouncy energetic terrier. He clearly knew the lady and loved her.
“I’ve got a big garden and I’ll love taking him for walks,” she told them as she got back into the car again.
The dog looked at Tara and gave one short sharp bark. She knew he was saying thank you for asking the angels to help.
Tara loves asking the angels to help people and watching them move into action straight away.
Whenever Tara sees an ambulance she asks angels of healing to help the patient inside it and she immediately sees lovely green healing angels flying with the vehicle.
When she passes someone who looks sad, she asks angels of love to touch them and watches the angels surround them with love and light.
She often asks her angel to help her too and is no longer surprised when things just work out ok.
Tara, Ash-ting and the Fairies
Tara and her fluffy grey kitten, Ash-ting, lay cuddled together in a cosy sleeping bag. They were staring out of the tent flap at a beautiful big, shiny full moon. It was the middle of the night but almost as light as day, though the shadows were very dark.
Tara’s little brother Jack was staying at Granny’s and her big sister Mel had a sleep over at a friend’s, so Daddy said he’d pitch the tent in the garden and he and Tara could sleep in it for a special treat. Tara loved the thrill of sleeping outdoors. Her Daddy was fast asleep and snoring and she was wide awake.
Tara and Ash-ting looked at each other and smiled. They had a wonderful secret that no one else knew. They could talk to each other!
“I’d love to play outside,” whispered Tara.
“Come on then. The fairies and elves are under the oak tree.”
“Fairies and elves! Are they real?” exclaimed Tara.
“Of course,” chuckled Ash-ting, “without them the flowers and vegetables and trees wouldn’t grow.”
‘Oh!’ mouthed the little girl in surprise as she crept out of her sleeping bag and tiptoed onto the lawn. The child and the kitten walked in the silver river of bright moonlight to the end of the garden, where a path led onto a meadow in which stood a huge old oak tree. And sure enough, under the tree there sat a row of little people, all looking at her. Tara could hardly believe her eyes.
“Meow,” called Ash-ting in greeting. They all jumped for they were so intent on watching Tara they had not seen him. Then they waved and shouted greetings.
“Hello Ash-ting. Is this Tara?”
“Yes, this is my friend Tara,” the kitten replied. Suddenly Tara felt very shy as Ash-ting introduced her to fairies, elves, pixies, gnomes, imps and brownies. They clustered round her in excitement and one tiny imp flew onto the palm of her hand. She held him up close to her face and laughed as he danced and tickled her hand. “I’m Ivan,” he grinned and Tara grinned back.
A bright pink fairy called Rose took her hand.
“How come I can see you and talk to you?” Tara gasped.
Rose explained how when you want to watch something on television you tune into the right channel, and then you can see and hear your programme.
“It’s the same with us,” she chuckled cheerfully. “When you are ready to meet us, you automatically tune into our wavelength.”
“And I am ready?”
“Yes. You read books about us, draw pictures of us and you love the trees and flowers we work with. And you have learnt much from Ash-ting.”
‘Wow!’ laughed the little girl.
Two elves dressed in green with pointed green hats jumped forwards to introduce themselves. “I’m Leafy”, bowed one “and I am Elveera,” bowed the other. Their voices sounded like the wind in the trees.
A group of pixies, who were taller and thinner than the elves, were standing together. “Pleased to meet you Tara and Ash-ting, we’re just visiting this area. We travel where we are needed to help the soil.”
“Hello,” she replied. “I wish you’d help my Daddy with the soil in his allotment. He says it’s too sandy.”
The pixies nodded and agreed to see what they could do.
The Caterpillar
Despite their cheery greetings, most of the little people looked quite glum.
“Why do they all look so sad?” Tara whispered to Ash-ting.
“Because of the oak tree,” the kitten replied, “people are going to chop it down and put a road through here.”
‘No!’ exclaimed Tara. ‘They can’t chop down the oak tree.’
She looked up at the huge branches of the tree she had known and loved all her life. She knew the tree was very old indeed.
“And they’ll cut down the beech wood over there.” He looked towards the copse to the right of the meadow.
“That’s terrible,” she shook her head; “they can’t do that.”
“They can,” said the elves gloomily.
“Ash-ting will know what to do, won’t you?” she begged the kitten. But he shook his head.
“It’s all going ahead. They are starting the day after tomorrow. There’s nothing we can do.”
Tara was shocked because usually Ash-ting found a solution.
Suddenly Tara noticed a black caterpillar with a yellow line down it. Two little elfin creatures with pointed wings were stroking it. One went to its head and urged it to move. “You’re in the middle of the path and a bird will eat you. Move!” she urged. The caterpillar lifted its head and wriggled a little, but he was too tired and flopped down again. The little elemental sighed.
“Who are you?” Tara asked.
“We’re brownies. We help the elves and trees, and insects and animals too.” they answered.
The brownies turned back to the caterpillar and stroked it again. “Go on, get into some shelter,” but the weary caterpillar just lay there.
“It will be a beautiful red admiral butterfly when it grows up,” said one of the bro
wnies. Then she added sadly, “If it grows up. We can try to help it but we can’t budge it.”
“But I can,” exclaimed Tara. She found a large leaf which she pushed very gently under the caterpillar.
“Put him amongst the stinging nettles, red admiral caterpillars love to eat them,” encouraged the brownies.
Tara placed him gently among the nettles and the brownies and elves clapped, their eyes shining with gratitude.
“Thank you so much Tara,” they sang in unison. The child glowed with pleasure and Ash-ting gave her a meow of thanks too.
The Oak Tree
Suddenly everyone fell silent as they heard the tree give a loud creak. All the little folk stood up respectfully. Tara wondered what was happening. Then she stared in amazement as she saw a face begin to appear in the trunk of the tree. It was a very old face and yet its eyes were shining and full of life.
Ash-ting explained that it was the guardian of the tree, who was a very knowledgeable and wise being. He told her how the guardian holds the energy and all the history of the area and helps to protect it.
She watched as the tree spirit stepped out of the tree and stood in front of her. At first it was enormously tall then it became smaller so it was the height of a person. The guardian radiated such peace and kindness that she was quite unafraid. She could understand why the elves lived in its branches.
“Once this whole county was a huge forest,” the spirit said. ‘Now there are few trees left and we have to do the work that they all did. It really helps us when you humans appreciate us.” Then he vanished.
Tara put her arms round the big oak and hugged it.
“Thank you for everything, I wish I could help you.”
Going Back to the Tent
One of the elves was angry. “Why should we help humans when they do these terrible things to our trees!” he shouted. Several others jumped up and down in rage and Tara felt alarmed. A beautiful pink fairy flew over and took Tara’s hand. “Don’t be scared, they are just afraid and upset,” she said. “They won’t harm you.”
“It’s time to go back to the tent now,” said Ash-ting firmly, looking up at the sky.
At that moment a big black cloud blotted out the moon. In an instant it was pitch dark.
“Oh,” squeaked Tara. “Ash-ting, where are you?”
“Here I am,” he replied rubbing against her legs.
“We’ll guide you back,” said the fairies and a dozen of them, like beautiful coloured lights, lit the way. “This is amazing,” thought the little girl as Ash-ting with his tail in the air marched in front and all the fairies danced round her. “It’s like magic.”
In the morning Tara asked Daddy about the oak tree. He sighed.
“They’re going to build a by-pass round the village. I’m afraid the oak tree will come down and the trees in the wood. It’s very sad.”
“Ask him what can be done to stop it,” urged Ash-ting.
“Can anything be done to help the tree, Daddy?”
“No. We’ve done all we can. They are starting work the day after tomorrow. I’m afraid we’ll lose the oak, the meadow and the woods.”
Mummy came out with their breakfast and heard their conversation.
“I wish they could find a rare animal there. That would save it,” she said, giving Dad a cup of tea and Tara a glass of juice.
“How was your night in the tent, Tara?”
Ash-ting gave her a warning look.
“It was lovely thank you Mummy. Can we please sleep in the tent again tonight?”
Dad looked at Mum.
“Well, it’s probably the last chance before the noise and dust of the road works starts.”
“Okay. But Jack will have to join you. He’s coming home from Granny’s this afternoon.”
Tara felt angry. She wanted to protest but Ash-ting told her to smile and say thank you, so she did. Later she grumbled to Ash-ting. “Jack will spoil everything.”
“No, he’ll be fast asleep. And Tara I have an idea!”
Endangered Animals
Dad was surprised and pleased to see Tara taking such a sudden interest in endangered animals, especially those that are protected. They went onto the internet together and she looked very carefully at all the pictures and asked lots of question. Dad even helped her write down some names. Ash-ting sat beside her and nodded wisely.
That afternoon she cycled to the allotment with Daddy. Usually she hated going and said it was boring, but today was different. She wondered if the pixies would be there and she would so like to see the fairies again. And sure enough, when they arrived she could see fairies, elves, brownies, imps, gnomes and a whole host of little spirits busy at work amongst the flowers and vegetables.
The pixies were there, too. They were in the compost heap, but she couldn’t quite see what they were doing. They all stopped and smiled when they saw her. “Hello Tara, have you come to help us then?”
“What can I do?”
“Talk to the vegetables and picture them growing huge! Or sing to them, because they love pretty music” said one of the elves and all the others nodded.
“You don’t just look after them physically. You must encourage them in every way.”
“OK,” agreed Tara and wondered what her friends would say if they could see her singing to the plants.
Daddy looked round as he heard his little girl singing beautifully while looking at a row of cabbages. He looked around his plot and scratched his head.
“I don’t know what it is, but everything looks a bit different today,” he said
“It’s because I’m here,” she replied laughing.
Ash-ting’s Plan
That night Tara fell fast asleep as soon as she got into her sleeping bag. Ash-ting had to pat her face to wake her up. The first thing she saw was Rose, the bright pink fairy, with a yellow one called Sunflower and a beautiful blue one called Delphinium, who were peeping round the opening in the tent.
Without waking Jack or Daddy, she and Ash-ting crept out of her sleeping bag and followed their fairy friends outside. Tara smiled with delight as Rose landed on her shoulder and sat there swinging her legs.
A huge crowd of gloomy looking pixies, elves, imps and brownies were waiting for them under the oak tree and they all sat down to talk. Ash-ting told them his plan. Everyone was excited. Tara read out her list of endangered animals and insects. The guardian of the oak tree was delighted.
“I’ll send a message through the tree network for all these creatures to come out of hiding,” he boomed.
“You and Ash-ting stay here,” commanded Rose. “We’ll search for them and bring them here. If we need you, we’ll call you. But first we must tell everyone what is happening.”
She started to sing a beautiful melody and then everyone joined in. Tara and Ash-ting could hear a wonderful hum rising up all round them and it seemed to get bigger and bigger, as if thousands of elementals were joining in. It travelled for miles.
Soon Tara and Ash-ting were alone with the tree. Tara hugged her kitten close and felt a little impatient, but she knew she must do as she was told and wait here. She could see down the path into her garden where Daddy and Jack were still fast asleep in the tent. She felt very excited.
And then they saw an amazing sight. A column of rarely seen creatures was winding its way towards the tree. With them were hundreds of fairies, elves, imps and pixies.
A wrinkled old toad was crawling slowly, encouraged by two pixies. Dozens of beetles were scuttling together with cheerful imps riding on their backs, the moonlight shimmering in different colours on their hard cases. Glow worms were flashing on and off.
Then there were hosts of brownies pulling leaves on which sat all sorts of unusual insects. It took several elves to drag a sleeping dormouse on a piece of bark, while a nervous water vole was being gently stroked by a fairy to give it courage to continue.
Several lizards were running backwards and forwards excitedly urging the others on. Rare cricke
ts chirruped as they leapt along the path, sometimes landing on another insect but everyone was in a good mood, so they didn’t mind.
At the back three big slow tortoises carried hundreds of creatures who couldn’t get to the tree by themselves.
And above the column flew rare moths and flying bugs, while fairies directed the way.
When they reached the tree the cavalcade hid in the roots, climbed into holes in the trunk, crept behind the bark, wriggled behind the leaves or nestled or perched on the branches.
Then a pair of rare birds landed on the top branches. By the light of the moon they set about building a nest and the fairies helped them, flying up with twigs and moss that Tara was busy gathering.
The oak tree was always full of insects and small animals. But now it was more alive with them than ever before. Now it was humming, chirping, singing and buzzing with them. All the little people celebrated and Tara and Ash-ting sat among a thousand nature spirits all singing joyfully.
It was truly a night to remember, but it was also time for Tara and Ash-ting to return to their tent.
Next Morning
Early next morning Ash-ting jumped on Tara to wake her up.
“Come on Tara, get up. Ask your Dad to come to the tree one last time.”
She pulled on her clothes as she shouted to Daddy.
“Come on Daddy, can we please go to see the oak tree one last time?”
“Okay,” he said, but his eyes looked very sad.
“But can’t it wait till after breakfast?” he asked.
“No Daddy. Please can we go now?”