A grandmother and grandfather were hiking through a dense forest when they came upon a curious sight. Two men were preparing to cut down a very large tree a short distance off the trail. The tree was certainly one of the largest trees in the forest with giant branches and of course too many leaves to count. As the men prepared their equipment some of the animals that lived in the tree came down to see what was happening below. There was a family of squirrels, several families of birds and a large raccoon. Two deer came under the tree to eat upon its leaves and a chipmunk scurried from a hole in the trunk of the giant tree. The animals and birds looked very worried but they could do nothing but watch as the men positioned their saws to cut down the beautiful tree.
Observing this scene, the grandparents walked over to the men and the grandfather said “This tree is home to many forest creatures; couldn’t you spare this one tree today?” “Sorry Pops” said one of the men “this tree will bring us a lot of money in town and we need it. The animals and birds will just have to find another home.” The grandfather answered “Well what if we gave you money today; would you spare this tree?” “How much?” answered the men.
The grandparents emptied their pockets and said “we’ve been saving up to buy our grandchildren a book or a toy when they visit next, but this is much more important.” But looking at the amount of money the grandparents had, the men said “Sorry, this tree is worth much more than that once it’s cut down. You need to get out of the way now because it’s time for us to get to work.”
Just then the strangest thing happened – the trees that surrounded the tallest tree started bending over and moved their branches toward the men. Once the branches reached the men, they started to tickle them so they dropped their saws on the ground and began to laugh hysterically. But the laughter quickly turned to screams once the men realized they were being tickled by the forest trees themselves!
The men ran off in a hurry leaving their saws and equipment behind as the grandparents stood there in shock. The men had barely run off when a tiny door near the base of the tree opened and a small forest gnome poked his head out and in a soft voice said “Are they gone?” “Yes, they are.” replied the grandparents.
“Whew, that was close” said the forest gnome coming out of his tiny house at the base of the tree. The grandparents hadn’t noticed the gnome home before but now they could see it looked very old and weathered and must have been there for many years. “Did you make the trees frighten those men” asked the grandparents? And the gnome replied “Yes, of course, we can’t all lose our homes just so those men can make a little money; that wouldn’t be right. But before I was able to use my magic to make the tree branches move you delayed the men from hurting my tree and I’m forever grateful. Without that delay, who knows what damage would have befallen my precious home! You were willing to spend your own money saved to buy your grandchildren a gift and I will reward you for your kindness. Whenever your grandchildren visit you in the future and you recite a magic rhyme to them, one of the trees nearby will become a Money Tree so your grandchildren can buy that book or toy.”
Now here’s the reason I’m telling this story to you now - the grandparents in this story were mine many years ago and whenever I visited them they would recite the magic rhyme to create a Money Tree just for me. Now it’s my turn to say the magic rhyme just for you:
OH GNOME OF THE FOREST, SURELY YOU CAN SEE
THAT MY GRANDCHILDREN DESERVE A TALL MONEY TREE
WHEN EMILY AND NICOLE VISIT US AS THEY SHOULD
AND ONLY IF THEY’RE ALWAYS, OR AT LEAST MOSTLY, GOOD
THEY’LL USE THE DOLLARS WISELY FOR A BOOK OR A TOY
AND THEY’LL CONTINUE TO FILL OUR LIVES WITH LOVE AND JOY!
Now let’s go out back and see if we can find that Money Tree!
Copyright 2015 T. A. Kuepper All Rights Reserved