Down the road and over the hill,

Through the field and past the old mill,

There stood a tree of colour and wonder,

That one little girl just loved to sit under.

Its leaves were red and orange and green

Yellow, blue, purple,

And everything in between.

For this little girl, whose name was Grace,

The colourful tree was her most favourite place.

Against its trunk, she'd sit all day,

Singing and dancing and lots of play.

One summer's morning, as she went on her way,

She stopped in her tracks,

When a tiny voice called out to say:

"Giant girl, please lend me your ear,"

"I'm down by your feet, I hope you can hear."

"I've been searching for days, to find a tree,"

"I need a new home for my family and me."

Grace was puzzled and looked all around,

But the owner of the voice,

Was nowhere to be found.

She heard it again, A little bit louder,

But still couldn't see, anything around her.

"Look here giant girl, can't you see?

"Down in the grass, right by your feet"

Grace was determined, to find the source of the sound,

And found herself staring,

Straight down at the ground.

She jumped and stumbled,

The sight was scary,

Standing before her

Was a real life fairy!

"Don't be scared,"

The fairy declared,

"Do you know of a tree,"

"For my family and me?"

The fairy was dressed in a raggedy brown gown,

As small as mouse,

And wearing a frown.

It told her a tale of sadness and woe,

How she and her family had nowhere to go.

They had lived in tree that got sick and died,

So they needed a new one that they could all live inside.

"What luck this is," said Grace, "Just wait and see,"

"I'm on my way"

"To the most beautiful tree!"

With the fairy, off Grace went,

As fast as she could, full of intent,

Down the road and over the hill,

Through the field and past the old mill.

She arrived at the tree, her cheeks turned pink,

And said to the fairy

"It sure is beautiful, don't you think?"

The fairy answered, with a big smile on her face,

"Oh my yes, this is the perfect place!",

"I sure can't wait for my family to see,"

"You've helped us find the most beautiful tree!"

Grace and the fairy laughed and played,

But dinner time came,

So she couldn't stay.

"I'll be back in a few days," she said to the fairy,

"You should go get your family, I'm sure they'll be merry."

Grace waved goodbye, turned and left,

She could not wait to meet the rest.

It was three days later, though it felt like more,

Grace grabbed her coat,

And ran out the door.

As fast as the wind, excited as could be,

She ran non stop to her favourite tree.

Down the road and over the hill,

Through the field and past the old mill.

She arrived at the tree but something was wrong,

There was no more colour,

Its leaves were all gone.

"What happened?" she cried, "The tree looks so ill!"

She stood there and stared, frozen totally still.

Its once colourful branches were naked and bare,

It gave poor Grace a terrible scare.

Then from above came a tiny shout:

"It's her! It's her!"

"The giant girl that helped us all out!"

From a branch up high, the fairy jumped and waved,

Surrounded by the family that Grace had helped save.

Together they fluttered slowly down,

All the way to the girl on the ground.

"Look giant girl, what we've got for you,"

"I hope you like it,"

"It's the least we could do."

Grace heard some rustling from up in the tree,

More fairies appeared, with something she couldn't quite see.

All of them were dressed in colourful new clothes,

And in the morning sunlight they shimmered and glowed.

Flapping and fluttering, they unveiled a dress,

So colourful and beautiful,

It was sure to impress.

For a moment Grace was happy and brimming with glee,

But then she remembered, what about the tree?

"That's a beautiful dress, made just for me,"

"But what has happened, to the poor old tree?"

The fairies looked puzzled, and all together they said:

"We make clothes from leaves,"

"For a dress so big, we need lots of thread."

They were just trying to be nice,

But it was the poor tree that paid the price.

Seeing it like this made her sad,

But she didn't want to make the fairies feel bad.

"You did this for me, and I'm as grateful as can be"

"But you made a mistake,"

"This tree is far more important than a dress just for me!"

"This must be what happened to your last tree,"

Said Grace to the fairies, hoping they would see.

"You can't just take, all of its leaves,"

"Without them it won't be able to breathe."

"That tree is a living thing, just like us,"

"If you want to stay,"

"You must not take too much."

The fairies agreed, and promised to protect the tree.

"You can count on us, just wait and see!"

And when Grace next came back, many days later,

Her tree and its leaves looked much better.

The tree looked even brighter than before,

All the colours of the rainbow,

Maybe even more.

Grace and the fairies that now lived in the tree,

Spent many more days as happy as can be,

Down the road and over the hill,

Through the field and past the old mill.