The Girl that Saved the Tree

It was the end of the summer and before long little Lucy would be
starting school. All summer long she had been sitting in her very own
tree house in her favourite tree with her pet cat Rhubarb. Rhubarb
liked sitting in trees. In fact Rhubarb wouldn't do anything else
except sip milk from his saucer, sleep, and sit in his favourite tree
with Lucy.

Their favourite tree was a huge oak that Lucy's Grandmother said was
older than the hills themselves. In wintertime it looked bare, sad, and
cold. But in the long hot days of summer the great oak was warm and
beautiful and the leaves glistened a silvery green in the gentle and
refreshing breeze.

Lucy's tree house was magnificent. She had her own sitting room and a
kitchen where, if she was lucky, her grandmother would leave some warm
scones fresh from the oven and plenty of home made fizzy
lemonade.

One morning something terrible happened. Lucy was on her way to her
favourite tree when her grandmother stopped her and said
'You can't go up there today dearest. The man from the council's come
to cut it down!'
As the tears rolled down poor Lucy's cheeks her grandmother said 'Don't
you worry my sweet heart. Tree houses is for kids, you're a big girl
now. Soon be at school reading books and doing sums and all! No time
for tree houses then'.

But Lucy howled and screamed and Rhubarb screeched and meowed and Lucy
said 'I won't let them cut down the tree! I won't! I won't! I don't
won't to go to silly school and I hate the man from the council'.

And with that Rhubarb and Lucy ran. They ran out of the house, through
the garden and over the fence to where the old oak tree stood. The
tears flowed down her face as she climbed her favourite tree for the
last time.

Lucy's grandmother didn't know what to do for the best and started to
run after her. But the child was faster and she could not catch her. By
the time she reached the old oak tree Lucy had pulled up the rope
ladder and was hiding inside.

Her Grandmother cried 'You must come down from there young madam!' with
anger in her voice. Lucy replied 'I shan't ever come down. I'll live
here 'til I die'.

Before long the man from the council arrived in his yellow van wearing
a yellow hat. He said
'You must come down at once you naughty girl. We've got to cut down the
old tree to make room for the new house!' 'I shan't come down I
shan't!' screamed Lucy. 'If you don't come down this instant I shall
have to call the police' The man from the council in his yellow hat was
red in the face and his big belly wobbled.

Lucy didn't come down and the man from the council called the police.
'Oi! What do you think you're playing at?' enquired the big, angry,
policeman. 'I'm living in my tree house and I'm never coming down' Lucy
sobbed.
'But you will get awful hungry soon' said the officer 'We won't let you
have any food'. 'I've still got some scones and after that I'll just
starve'. Rhubarb wiped a tear from his whiskers. 'Well I can't make her
come down' said the officer to the man from the council 'you'll just
have to wait'.

And so they waited and waited. The minutes turned to hours and before
long it was night. Then night turned back to day and Lucy was still in
her tree house. Word spread and People from the village came to see
what was going on. Then came people from the town and from the
neighbouring town. And soon people were coming from far and wide to see
the girl in the tree.

Eventually Lucy's grandmother got tired and went home to sleep. The
policeman got bored and went home for his tea. Lucy waited and waited
and sat tight until finally the man from the council got so embarrassed
at being the only person who wanted to cut the tree down he gave up and
drove away.

Lucy came down from the tree and went home. They never did build the
new house, and after school Lucy and Rhubarb could sit in the tree for
as long as they wanted. The tree still stands today. If you go to
Lucy's house you will see the tree standing proudly, and Rhubarb
sitting proudly in it with Lucy. The girl who saved the tree.