Page 89 - Universal

Come back when you’re a butterfly,’ he said.

Winter came early. The cherry tree bent low with the weight of snow. Field-mice sought
shelter on the roof of the cottage. The road from the valley was blocked, and for several

days there was no newspaper, and this made Grandfather quite grumpy. His stories
began to have unhappy endings.

In February it was Rakesh’s birthday. He was nine – and the tree was four, but almost
as tall as Rakesh.

One morning, when the sun came out, Grandfather came into the garden to ‘let some
warmth get into my bones,’ as he put it. He stopped in front of the cherry tree, stared

at it for a few moments, and then called out, ‘Rakesh! Come and look! Come quickly
before it falls!’

Rakesh and Grandfather gazed at the tree as though it had performed a miracle.

There was a pale pink blossom at the end of a branch.

The following year there were more blossoms. And suddenly the tree was taller than

Rakesh, even though it was less than half his age. And then it was taller than Grandfather,
who was older than some of the oak trees.

But Rakesh had grown too. He could run, jump and climb trees as well as most boys,

and he read a lot of books, although he still liked listening to Grandfather’s tales.

In the cherry tree, bees came to feed on the nectar in the blossoms, and tiny birds

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The English Carnival-6