Rangi and the talking
Kauri Tree
“Ra
the sun started to disappear into the distance as the
day became night.”
The birds
were singing and the sun had risen into the cloudless sky. Rangi and his best
friend, his dog called Tuhi were going for a walk through the Waipoua Forest.
The forest was full of beautiful sky scraping trees that surrounded the tallest
tree of them all, this was the tremendous Kauri Tree. Rangi and Tuhi loved
going on their daily walk through the forest to the glorious Kauri Tree. But
this time something was not right. When Rangi and Tuhi reached the giant Kauri
Tree it did not look beautiful and healthy as it normally did. Instead it
looked old, and all the green fresh looking leaves now looked brown and dried
out. Rangi looked confused and Tuhi knew something was wrong as well. Rangi and
Tuhi stared at the old and dried up Kauri Tree for a minute when suddenly a
face appeared in the trunk of the tree. Rangi and Tuhi both jumped with fright
as the tree looked at them sadly. The tree then began to speak to Rangi. The
tree said “Will you please help me?” Rangi was still frightened but he realised
how much the tree needed his help and he replied “yes,” without asking any
questions. The tree then smiled and told Rangi why he needed his help. “You
see,” said the tree “I am 100 years old now and I am drying up and losing all
my leaves. Without my leaves I will freeze and die and the forest will also die
as well,” the tree cried.
“Don’t
worry,” said Rangi “Tuhi and I will bring you some water”
“Thank you,”
replied the tree, but Rangi and Tuhi had already left to get some water.
“We are back!”
yelled Rangi while holding a calabash full of fresh water. Rangi and Tuhi then
watered the tree, but water was not enough to stop the tree from dying. Rangi
and Tuhi would have to make a special medicine for the tree to live another
hundred years. The tree then said, “To make the medicine you will have to get
three sun flower seeds, a fresh green apple tree leaf and some river water, from
the Hokianga River. Then once you have all the ingredients mix it all together
and bring it to me before my last leaf falls off.”
“Ok, how
long do we have?” replied Rangi.
“Half the
day, when the sun is at the top of the mountain.” Replied the tree. So Rangi
and Tuhi set off to the public gardens to get three sun flower seeds. At the
public garden they also found an apple tree and picked off a nice fresh green
leaf. All they had to find now was a river with some fresh water in it. It
didn’t take long for Rangi and Tuhi to get to the Hokianga river. While they
were at the river they threw all the ingredients into the calabash and quickly
mixed it all together, while the tree only had three leaves left until he would
die. Rangi and Tuhi knew they only had a little time to spare looking at where
the sun was. So they sprinted as fast as they could back to the forest but
there was only one leaf left and it was up to Tuhi, a very fast greyhound, to
take the calabash and make it to the tree before it was too late. The greyhound
ran through the forest like a lightning bolt with Rangi far behind, but within
a split second Tuhi made it to the tree and splashed the medicine at the bottom
of the tree’s trunk. Rangi had then caught up and everything was silent. The tree
then started to move and the ground shook. Some flowers started blooming from
the branches of the tree and big green leaves started to appear. Rangi and Tuhi
had done it! The tree thanked Rangi and Tuhi and gifted them each with a
necklace made out of the tree’s magical wood. Rangi and Tuhi then walked back
home knowing that the forest would be safe for another hundred years.
By Jessica J
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