The Easter Tree

Once upon a time, a long time ago; a little girl named Esther bought a brightly coloured magical egg from a peddlar woman or at least the peddlar woman said that it was magical.

 

“Plant the egg in the ground just like a seed and water it, just like a seed and you will see. From it an Easter tree shall grow”.

 

Unfortunately when the little girls auntie saw what she had spent her money on she was very cross.

 

“Why you fool of a girl”, her Auntie said, “Eggs that grow into trees. You’ve been conned by that old peddlar woman and wasted all the money I gave you”.

 

And her Auntie threw the egg out of the window of their house, adding, “Its probably rotten as well”.

 

Poor Esther was so unhappy when her Auntie did this she ran outside, expecting the egg to be broken and shattered into pieces against the hard cobblestones of the courtyard but, fortunately, when she went outside she saw that the egg was still perfectly intact and so, digging a hole with a trowel in her aunties vegetable patch, she secretly planted the egg and watered it with her aunties old watering can just as the old peddlar woman had told her to.

 

And then, the next morning, when the little girl awoke and looked outside, she just couldn’t believe her eyes for there, growing out of her vegetable patch, a hundred feet high was a gigantic tree with feathers of the Easter colours, pink and blue, yellow, green and white, rather than leaves and brightly coloured eggs hanging upon its branches like fruit.

 

Happily, Esther ran out to see it.

 

“It’s so beautiful”, she said, dancing and skipping round about it.

 

But then, looking up, she thought she saw a house at the very top of the tree.

 

“Oh I wonder who lives in that house at the top of the tree?”, she said, “If only it wasn’t so tall I could climb up it”.

 

Just then , however, one of the bright feather covered branches of the tree fell down and landed near to her feet and looking at it, Esther had a brilliant idea.

 

Picking up the fallen branch and breaking off another branch, she held one in each of her hands and ran around the court yard flapping them just like wings,

 

“Perhaps I can fly to the top of the tree”, she said.

 

 

And just as she was saying this, suddenly, Esther felt herself rise up into the air just like a bird.

 

“Wow”, she said, as she looked down and saw her buckled shoes  and the cobbled courtyard almost 30 feet below them, “I really am flying”.

 

Then soaring and swooping and gliding and looping through the bright blue April sky, Esther flew all the way up to the top of the tree, coming to land upon a magical cobbled courtyard which, though it was made of stone seemed to float just like a cloud.

 

Then she went and knocked upon the door of the strange house; a little cottage painted sky blue with a roof thatched with sunbeams instead of straw and a chimney that puffed out clouds of rainbow coloured smoke into the air.

 

And upon her third knock the door of the cottage creaked wide open and curious, the little girl went inside and inside she saw a kitchen where a big cauldron was bubbling in a fireplace and a pink and blue rabbit was being kept inside a golden cage.

 

“Oh please”, said the rabbit to the girl, “You’ve got to help me escape. I’m the Easter Bunny. The evil witch of the North Wind invited me to tea and she made me the most delicious carrot tea unfortunately it made me fall asleep and when I woke up I was in this cage. Now she intends to make me into rabbit soup. Please, think of all the children I deliver eggs to at Easter; if she makes me into soup it won’t just be bad for me, she’ll ruin Easter for everyone”.

 

“Why of course I’ll help you”, said Esther pulling at the door of the cage trying to open it.

 

“That’s no good”, said the Rabbit, “It only opens if you sing a happy song”.

 

So Esther sang the shortest but happiest song she knew,

 

“Once a lonely daffodil

grew upon a tall green hill

and had no flower friends

with which to play.

 

But suddenly, the sun came out

and round about began to sprout

a crowd of Springtime flowers bright and gay”.

 

And when Esther finished the song, suddenly the door of the cage sprang open and the Easter bunny leapt out carrying his basket of brightly coloured eggs.

 

“Oh thank you so much”, said the rabbit, “From me and all the children of the world”.

 

But just then however, Esther and the Rabbit heard a tinkling sound like little bells ringing and looking over at the direction of the noise  saw a pot of blue bells on the kitchen table that were ringing just like real bells.

 

“Oh no”, said the Easter Bunny, “That must mean the witch is coming home”.

 

And, looking out of the window, Esther saw that it was true for, leaping across the sky, riding a black storm cloud with thunderbolt legs, she saw the witch of the North Wind coming closer.

 

“Oh what are we going to do?”, said the Easter Bunny, folding over his long ears to hide his eyes in fear.

 

Just then however, Esther had another bright idea and, picking up the eggs from the Easter Bunny’s basket and opening the window, she started to hurl them at the witch.

 

“We can throw these at her”, she said.

 

And so the Easter bunny helping her, they both hurled a volley of Easter Eggs at the witch, even knocking her pointy hat off.

 

But then the witch, taking out her wand from the sheathe upon her belt, started to blast the eggs with lightning bolts, boiling and scrambling and frying the eggs before they could hit her.

 

And what’s worse, looking down into the Bunny’s basket Esther realised that they had run out of eggs to throw.

 

But then, glancing round about the witches kitchen, Esther noticed a crystal ball that was sitting upon the table.

 

“We can throw this”, she said, picking it up with both hands and handing it to the bunny who was much stronger than her.

 

“Well okay”, said the rabbit, doubtfully, but then swinging his arm round and round just like a baseball pitcher, he hurled the crystal ball towards the witch.

 

And immediately, the witch aimed at the ball heading towards her with her magic wand and zapped it with a magical thunderbolt but when she did, suddenly, there was a bright flash and a deafening roar as the crystal ball exploded; shards of crystal flying everywhere and the force of the magical explosion threw the witch from the back of her storm cloud and, with a scream, the witch went plummeting just like a rock down towards the Earth.

 

She landed in a deep well; no one knows just how deep it was but the witch was never seen again.

 

Then, the Easter Bunny hopped and jumped and the little girl danced and skipped and the little blue bells in the pot upon the witches table jingled with joy.

 

And after that, the little girl and the bunny both climbing into his basket, the Easter Bunny flapped his ears just like the long wings of a seagull and the basket flew out of the door and carried them both safely to the ground.

 

And when Esther brought the Easter Bunny into her cottage to meet her Auntie, her Auntie didn’t think she was a fool anymore.

 

In fact, because the Auntie and Esther were so poor, the Easter Bunny used his magic basket to conjure them both up an egg of pure gold, then both Esther and her Auntie had a very, very Happy Easter.