Forest Tree King Skye

As you step out the woodland procession approaches, and lifted highly upon firm branches, all knotted in a crazy splendid mess, sits the Forest Tree King, and all about is perfect. The sunshine of the day perches upon his shoulder and he looks lovingly down into the gathered crowd.

Ribbons and bunting are everywhere, gold, green, blue, white, yellow, fluttering like butterflies in the light summer breeze.

'Welcome my friends' he says to the gathering, his deep voice, warm and welcoming. 'Now who shall sit on my throne for the day? Who shall bring me the most perfect leaf, for that is what you must do for me and then I will grant the winner a seat upon my throne for the day.'

He then pauses for effect though the words are the same every year.
'But there is one simple rule, do you know it?' and all about the crowd chant 'Yes, yes we do.'
'Well then that is good, but lets help our new friends freshly joined' and he turns to you and says.

'The leaves must fall naturally to the ground, none must be picked from the trees themselves, and be careful where you collect them from, it must be clean and free from litter of any kind. Now are you ready?'

Are you? Then nod to the Forest Tree King.

All about the courtyard the frenzy is about to begin, there is a magic hush as the King lifts his arm in readiness. Everyone holds their breath waiting for the signal, then he opens his palm and out spill hundreds of rose petals, and off like a gun the crowd goes, to the left and right, people scurrying and snatching at the leaves on the ground, along the side and all about. When they have what they believe to be the best, then they head off across the grass at a mad pace.

Then the King of the Forest turns gently to you again and asks kindly. 'What are you waiting for, find one superb leaf each, make it different from each others, so no two should be alike if you can help it, then take them to the five judges in the field.'

'The winner will have the chance to sit upon my throne, it is always the prize going far back into history, further than books, and long beards, and perhaps even before shoes were invented, and that is a very long way back indeed!'

So your task is set, each take a moment to find a leaf, as perfect as can be and then when you are ready, come back to me and read on.

You all have a leaf?

As you approach the judge Henry the Hedgehog he is looking very happy, he is wearing nothing but his spikes which are sp prickly he can't wear clothes anyway! Henry the Hedgehog is very funny and is quite sharp, in fact so sharp you couldn't keep up with him.

Henry the hedgehog likes brown,rough and mouldy leafes .
Can you put your leafes down on the floor and put them in a row and see who has the most rough and brownist leaf. if you do blink at him and he should blink back at you !!!

There are many Ants nests in the woodlands and hills, and all are linked by the paths drawn in the forest floor by the workers. Every Sunday morning long before the dog walkers and strangers come stomping by the ants have a lifting competition to see who is the strongest. They do this by lifting an enormous leaf and then carry it up to the nest.

Annoying Ant has been the winner of this competition all year and he is really keen to see who has the biggest leaf.

So Ant likes to show his strength by lifting impossibly large items, and so the winning leaf is the largest, who has the largest leaf?

As you approach the judge Sizzle the Centipede you see he has fabulous armour on his back. He looks a little like a flattened snail and you think it's really funny.

You ask him why he is wearing armour and he says

So He does not get eaten. At any sound he would shrink back swiftly into his shell.

He said I need smooth leaves for my shoes . I need soft at the top,and hard for the sole.


As a present he gave a shoe


TRL

As you approach king Stalagtile you notice he is draped in a green cloak of thick leaves,but right at the front there was a small gap."I see you have noticed the gap in my drape." Says a loud calm voice. You glance up into the eyes of a mighty stag with a gold crown. You bow down at the sight of his crown. "Rise." He says. I am only looking for the thickest, strongest leaf.Lay them down in a line and I will choose.

He takes his time inspecting the leaves, then he prods one of them with his antler," this one."he says. A blue strand curls down his antler and touches the chosen leaf. He lifts his antler and at first nothing happens, then the leaf glows a vibrant purple and it hovers up to the king's eyeline. "Yes, this'll do." Says the king. And emediatly it swirls down to cover the gap. It fades and then turns back into it's original colour. When the king sees you have not moved he says," well what are you waiting for! Go on you're other judges are waiting!" You cover your eyes as a dazzling white light blazes across Through the sky. As it fades you look up. The king was gone.

Ronald the kingfisher is sea blue and loves catching trout, the bigger the better.

He especially likes rainbow trout as that's how he gets the colour into his feathers.

There is a river close by which is slow moving, perfect for rainbow trout catch. Be as quiet as you can so you don't disturb the tout and Ronald's supper.


Ronald likes to use his leaf for a boat, is there a leaf which is boat shaped?

CJ

Carpeting florescent green weed revolves around in a slow steady oval .Delphin swims towards you, splashing water everywhere.He looks at you and says "This weed is SO annoying! If only I had some leaves.Show me your leaves and let's see which one has the smoothest edge." You lay your leaves in a row and Delphin runs a slippery flipper along the edge of each leaf. He points to one." I like this one. So smooth! He says "Do you agree?"

Which leaf do you think is the smoothest?

The King waits eagerly, he has judged many leaves already, but lots of faces are a little glum as nobody has won yet today, but then you place your leaves on the ground and the Kings wise eyes light right up.

'Tell me,' he says, 'Which did Spider choose?

And which did Miss Fly-by-night the moth?

And what about Squire Squirrel, he likes shiny, which did he choose?

And Captain Cricket, he always chooses for worm, which did he like the best.

He talks so fast that you find your head gets dizzy, but you point as quickly as he asks.

'All these leaves are so beautiful,' he says 'but every competition needs a winner and the throne can only hold one person, so . . . ' and he pauses thinking for a moment.

'Is there one leaf which has been chosen more than the others?'

Who's leaf has been chosen the most times?

But the King shakes his head, 'We can't leave it like this, I have an idea, you can take it in turns on my throne.'

And an enormous raw of applause erupts from the crowd, hats are thrown into the air and music begins to start.

Then the Forest Tree King lifts you up high onto the throne of branches and all cheer at the first winner.

Did you enjoy the adventure?

How would you make it better?

Should there have been another judge creature? Fly, Rook, Robin, Field Mouse, Pigeon?

If you were one of the judges what would be your criteria for the best one?

What would you change about the story?

Who's leaf should really have won?