It was a glorious summer morning. The sun beamed genially down on Mother Earth and the earth seemed to radiate its joy and happiness back at the sun. The sky was a clear blue and the trees waved their branches in a vain endeavour to touch the skies. Flowers curtsied by bobbing their pretty heads and birds proclaimed their joy in wonderful bursts of music. This was the kind of day when tired men went about whistling merrily and weary old ladies smiled good naturedly at the pranks of the lively youngsters.
But a little girl sat hunched up in a listless heap, crying her eyes out. She was Hazel Towers, the eight-year-old little daughter of the wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Towers. “It’s a horrible day!” sobbed the little girl. Suddenly a cheery voice cried, “Hello! Little Sister!” “Oh! Berry!” cried little Hazel and sprang in to the arms of the tall boy who stood just inside the house.
Berry was a seventeen-year-old lad who had been orphaned at a very tender age. Now he lived with an old aunt. If there was anything that Berry loved, that was Mother Nature. He gloried in her beauty and was a patient student who imbibed everything that Mother Nature taught him. The fact that he was Mother Nature’s child was evident in his erect carriage, his bronzed skin and the play of his well-developed muscles. He was tall and slender as a willow and his outdoor life had given him hands of steel and great endurance. Berry wanted to become a forest ranger. That was his greatest dream. But duty always stood first for the young lad and he was cheerfully going to work in an office so that he could take care of his elderly aunt. Berry was the only friend that little Hazel had. The boy understood this spoilt little girl like a book. At first Hazel’s rich and proud parents had not wanted their child to associate with Berry because of his evident poverty. But little Hazel always had her way and the children grew to be firm friends and much more than that. Berry often called Hazel his little sister and the little girl looked up to the boy as a big brother.
“Now what’s troubling you?” asked Berry, looking down at the girl’s tear-stained and pale face. “Today’s just dreadful!” sobbed the child, bursting into a fresh fit of weeping. “My pet parrot Honey flew away.” “Now I don’t have anyone to play with!” “Both mum and dad are in the office.” “The TV and the computer are not working and I am terribly alone!”
Berry laughed one of his infectious laughs. He sat down by the child and took her little hands. “Now lets’ sort out all these problems.” He said comfortingly. “Hazel, was it right to keep Honey locked up in a cage?” “Don’t you see that Honey flew away because he was terribly homesick for his friends and his sky?” “Would you like it if someone put you in a cage and never let you get out of it and would you like it to see all your friends playing and having fun when you were trapped?”
“Well, I wouldn’t like it, but I am a girl and Honey is just a parrot”, said Hazel. “Little sister, don’t you think animals have feelings too?” asked the young lad quietly. “Do they?” asked the little girl, her face lighting up in surprise. “They sure do!” said the boy, “And I am going to prove it to you.”
Berry jumped to his feet and pulled the child up after him. “Come on, little sister!” cried the boy, taking her hands and running forward. “Where are we going?” questioned the girl rather breathlessly.
Berry did not answer but kept on running with the girl holding to his hand. Soon they reached the woods that bordered the village. The trees stood like huge sentinels to guard the secrets of Mother Nature which were disclosed to only a few of her children. The moss felt like a beautiful carpet to the children’s feet. The sun sent its rays to peep between the leaves and the rays made beautiful patterns with its light on the carpeted floor of the forest. The birds twittered a merry greeting and butterflies flew down to alight for a second on the children’s outstretched palms. A gentle breeze fanned the children’s hot cheeks. “Oh! I never thought forests could be so beautiful!” Hazel said. Her pale cheeks were flushed and her eyes were shining with excitement. Berry looked down on her and laughed. “This is just the beginning, little sister.” “Come along! I’ll show much more.”
The children skipped along merrily, Berry pointing out to the little girl the different trees and birds. A new and wonderful world was slowly opening before Hazel whose days were passed before a computer screen. It seemed like fairyland or heaven to the little girl who lived inside the four walls of her room. She had never known that there were so many beautiful birds in the world and as for the flowers! She had never seen anything so glorious. She eagerly ran forward to pick a beautiful blue flower and had soon wrenched it from the plant.
“What did you do!” cried Berry. “Why, I just picked this flower”, said the little girl. “Hazel, that plant is this flower’s mother”, said the boy. “The flower which was so beautiful and lovely when it stayed close to its mother will fade very soon without its mother’s care and tenderness.” “I didn’t know plants were like that” said the girl. “I promise I won’t do it again.” “Its’ alright.” said the boy gently.
As they walked, Berry told the child different things about the trees. “Hazel, trees are the best friends you can ever have.” “All these trees here have lived for hundreds of years and they are so old and strong.” “When I feel bad and down-hearted, I come here and this forest comforts me just like my mother would have done.”
“Berry, how do you remember the names of so many trees!” asked the girl incredulously. “Easy enough!” laughed the young boy. “All these trees are my friends and I don’t forget the names of my friends.
“Come on! Lets’ climb up this tree”, said Berry, pausing before a giant tree which stood with its branches stretched wide in welcome. Hazel hung back. She had always been scared of heights. “Come on now, don’t be afraid.” “I will take care of you”, said the boy. Berry began climbing up with great zeal and called enthusiastically to the child to follow him. Berry’s enthusiasm was contagious and soon little Hazel was climbing up after him.
At first she was scared, terribly scared. “What if she had a fall?” but slowly her fear left her. The tree was so strong and so powerful. She began enjoying the sensation of going up and up. When she stepped on one branch the branch above her seemed to be calling out to her and she climbed up and up. But she was growing tired. She was not used to this kind of exercise and her breath came in short gasps.
“Just a little more”, said Berry encouragingly. A few hours ago the child would have burst into tears and would have demanded to be taken home. But nature had woven a spell over the child and she gritted her teeth together and began to climb once again. At last they reached the top and Berry helped her up to the highest branch. Suddenly the child gave a cry of surprise. High up on the tree was a wonderful tree house. The children crawled into the tiny house and little Hazel was examining everything inside it with loud cries of joy. There was a wooden table, two wooden chairs and a shelf piled high with books on forestry.
“Oh! Berry, did you make this tree house!” cried the little girl.
“Yes.” “Did you like it?” he answered
“Its’ lovely!” cried the girl, giving him a bear-hug.
The children soon sat down and Berry served sandwiches for both of them. It was only then that Hazel looked outside. She gave a cry of delight. To her right and left stretched the forest like a green carpet. Above her was the sky which was calm and blue. How peaceful and glorious this was. Hazel had never known what nature was till this moment. She did not know why, but her eyes grew suddenly misty. The beauty and wonder of God’s creation had been impressed on her soul.
“Look over there, hazel!” cried Berry pointing to a tree nearby. It was almost beautiful sight of the mother bird, the father bird and the baby bird having a family time all by themselves. The papa and mama birds pecked at each other in the most loving manner meanwhile making beautiful melody with their songs. The baby bird looked on in a way that said, “Haven’t I got the most wonderful family in the world!”
Soon it was evident that the little family were getting into the business. The daddy and mummy birds were coaxing their little one to fly. The little bird hung back in palpable fear. The parents persisted and twittered loudly which was followed by sundry little pecks. Suddenly the mother bird pushed her baby out of the nest. Hazel clutched Berry’s hand fervently and her face went pale. For a moment it looked as if the little bird was falling down to be met by death, but it started fluttering its wings weakly. As it grew more confident of its self, the fluttering became stronger and swifter. “The little bird has learnt to fly!” cried Hazel. The little bird had indeed learnt to fly and it was proud of its achievement. But slowly it started weakening. Its fluttering grew slower and it began going down. But quick as lightening the mother bird swooped down and caught the baby bird, holding it on her wing and flying up to the cosy nest. There the little bird was congratulated and petted to its heart’s content.
“Why did the mama and papa push the baby out?” asked the little girl.
“Because that was the only way by which the little one would learn to fly”, replied Berry.
Hazel watched the birds having a lovely family time all to themselves. She thought of her own parents who were too busy to spend time with her. Now she knew that animals had hearts.
In the silence of the forest Berry told the little girl beautiful tales of animals. He told her about the brave savage mothers who were ready to die for their children. He told of the animal daddies who did not mind taking care of the home so that their wives could rest. He told of the way the animals got up early in the morning to praise God the first thing in the morning despite their busy schedule. He told about the ants who worked hard day and night.
The sun was going down and Berry reminded the little girl that they had to go home. Hazel stood up to watch a sunset for the first time in her life. The sun was going down to rest and it spread the world with a golden mist. The leaves rustled and the flowers waved a good-bye to the sun. The sun disappeared and it seemed to say, “Good night folks and sweet dreams.” The birds were about to retire and the flowers had folded their petals. A gentle breeze blew across the forest lulling the plants and animals to sleep. “Berry, nature’s wonderful!” breathed the little girl softly. “I never thought it would be like this.” “It seems to me that all these trees and birds have a language of their own and they have been talking to me.”
Berry patted her shoulders and they were soon descending from the tree. At the outskirts of the woods, Hazel turned back and waved goodbye to the forest that had grown so beloved to her in a few hours. Berry was soon saying goodbye at her door. “Goodbye, Berry and thank you!” said the girl softly.
That night she knelt down to say her prayers. Hazel had never been fond of prayers but now prayer had something special about it. She did not grumble the short verse that it was her habit to say. She looked up and said in a very humble voice, “Dear God, I have been a very naughty girl till now. I wasted my time and I didn’t love you enough. But God, I want to be good now. Won’t you help me? God, it was so wonderful of you to make nature look so beautiful and it was even more wonderful for you to make a bad girl like me enjoy it. Good night God. Take care of the trees and the animals and especially the happy bird family. Please take care of me too.”
With this, she snuggled down in bed and was soon in dreamland. But this time she did not dream of pizzas and fashionable frocks and her television programs. She dreamt that she slept securely in mother nature’s cradle with the wood nymphs for company, with the trees standing guard over her, the sky forming a big roof over her, the stars twinkling merrily down up on her, the crickets singing a lullaby and God’s gentle hand rocking her to sleep.