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Ripley Rabbit and The Weepy Woodland Willow by Coralyn Wall Want to use your Kindle 2? Shop by title or by author in Kindle format. RIPLEY RABBIT & THE WEEPY WOODLAND WILLOW Coralyn Wall Project BookRead and Father Robert Aloysius Peter Darin have been given authorization to distribute and/or publish this by the author as listed in the first two lines of this text. This work may *NOT* be used for sale and/or redistrubition in any form/nature known or unknown at this time or in the future without consent of the author (Coralyn Wall, ozcwall@free2air.com.au). Project BookRead's authorization for this text does *NOT* extend to anyone person and/or company outside its bounds. This text may be shared as long as it is in its original unaltered form as listed in Project BookRead's stack. This text is solely copywritten to the original author as listed above. RIPLEY RABBIT & THE WEEPY WOODLAND WILLOW "boo, hoo, hoo, boo, hoo, hoo", cried the little weeping willow, as she continued her unending wailing. "boo hoo, boo hoo", everyone in woodland knew how sad she was. just then she spied Squeaky Squirrel scampering towards her. "Oh do stop, Miss Willow", he said, "that is such a dreadfully sad noise and I cant stand it. I would love to climb your branches and play but I would end up crying as well and that would never do." Just then along came Katy and Kevin Koala, "hello everybody," they said, "what's going on?" "well," said Squeaky, "I was just telling Miss Willow here, that I would really love to play in her branches, they bend and sway so beautifully, if only she would stop crying, but I always have to go somewhere else to play as I just cant stand seeing her so unhappy". Katy and Kevin said, "we must go as well, we need to get to where the gum trees grow so we can have our dinner tonight and find a comfortable branch to sleep in". Poor Miss Willow she was alone again to cry all by herself, she had quite a large puddle all around her roots. it had spread so far she had heard some humans calling it a pond and there were some very friendly ducks who came by for a swim from time to time. they didn't seem to mind her crying noises, they probably couldn't even hear her over their own quacking now she thought about it, and there was the occasional magpie who dropped in for a chat, but mostly she was so alone and lonely wondering would there ever come a time when she could laugh and be happy like all the other creatures. She would sometimes look at the other trees with such longing. there was Wendy Wattle tree, who always had such a sweet smelling beautiful golden outfit on. she was never lonely, the bees came buzzing around her all day long looking for nectar, she was just so popular. Then there was Oliver Oak tree, now he was a very stately and wise old man tree, and he usually had the right answers to their problems but he would never give an opinion unless he was asked for it, he was very reserved and very quiet, he seemed to only ever have one visitor and that was Oswald the Owl. maybe they compared notes and gained more wisdom from each other. Just a little way down the track there grew a very impressive looking Ghost Gum, no one really knew his name but everyone agreed they should all call him Casper, he was quite a friendly fellow and it seemed all of the creatures loved to visit him and those who could climb would go right up high into the leaf canopy and play hide and seek, his branches were very strong so they were all quite safe. those who found climbing Casper's beautiful, straight, smooth trunk difficult either played or just rested at the bottom in the shade of his large leafy top. However, they were all getting more and more concerned for Miss Willow because as soon as the day's activities were over and it became quiet and dark, the breeze would carry her sad voice for a very long way. they could all hear her distress and they wanted to help but had no idea what to do for her. Now as it happened, Ripley Rabbit who had been away visiting his cousins Harold and Harriet Hare was due to return home to his old neighbourhood. he had quite forgotten how sad Miss Willow sounded, after all he had been gone for several months, some said her sobbing was the reason he left in the first place. Once he'd made up his mind to return it only took a few hours to get back, but it so happened that he arrived very late in the afternoon just in time to be able to clearly hear her sad voice on the evening breeze. "This has to stop," thought Ripley, who was a rabbit of action. "tomorrow I am going to call a meeting of all the creatures who live in this neck of the woods and devise a plan." daybreak came and Ripley set about finding everyone to advise them of the meeting that night at 6 pm. They were going to find a way to stop Miss Willow's weeping. When the time for the meeting came there were so many birds and animals turned up, even the bees stayed out after dark, they were all so worried about poor Miss Willow's condition. Ripley asked for suggestions but no one had any ideas so they all decided to go and ask Oliver Oak and Oswald Owl if they could advise them. after all they were just the wisest that could be found anywhere. Oliver and Oswald had a short conference and in their most dignified manner advised that Ripley should get a mirror from somewhere and show Miss Willow how beautiful and graceful she looked, this would cheer her up so much she would stop her crying and be happy. everyone clapped and cheered and said this was such wonderful advice they would do it first thing tomorrow. Next morning Ripley paid a visit to the Bower birds who were known to be great collectors of all kinds of things. sure enough they had a piece of mirror they could lend for such a noble purpose. so off they all went with great joy in their hearts knowing this was the day their dear friend would become happy. Ripley shined up the piece of mirror, he made sure there was no smudge of dirt anywhere in sight on it. this would be such a wonderful day. They all arrived at the willow and Ripley said in his best and loudest voice, "My dear friend Miss Willow, this is your greatest day ever, this is the day you stop your tears." she was so surprised she almost did stop for a moment, Ripley saw his chance and took it. he whipped out his mirror, held it where she could clearly see her own reflection and said, "look at yourself, how beautiful you are, how gracefully your branches hang down, there never was a tree as lovely as the Willow", and as he finished speaking she wailed louder than she ever had before. Poor Ripley did not know what to do next, if Oliver and Oswald's advice didn't work where else could he go. If only he could find a way to talk to the Great One, the creator of all the trees and creatures, Ah, but he would be too busy to talk to a rabbit, Ripley sighed, "I'll have to go home and do some very serious thinking about the Great One. maybe, somehow, I can find a way to get His attention for a few minutes so I can help my poor sad little friend," with this decision made, Ripley set off down the track to home, his mind was so full of thoughts, making plans and then rejecting them in the hope of finding the right one that might get the attention of the Great One. He really was in a state over this situation, now he was imagining things, he kept hearing someone call his name, but no matter how quickly he turned around he still could not catch sight of who was trying to play tricks on him. there it was again, "Ripley, Ripley, stop and listen to me." again he could see no one but he kept hearing his name. he was so tired he decided he would just sit in the shade of Sylvia Cypress and lean against her lovely broad trunk to rest awhile so that this mysterious person who was calling out could catch up and talk to him while he rested. Soon his eyelids began to droop as he relaxed. "Ripley!" the voice boomed so close, his eyes shot open but there was no one in sight, then he heard it again, this time his eyes were wide open. he could see all around and there was definitely no one anywhere in sight. very cautiously and timidly Ripley said, "who's calling me?, hello, hello." as soon as he stopped long enough to take a breath, there it was again, "Ripley at last I have your attention. stop feeling scared, I would never harm you., I just want to talk with you. you did want to know how you could get to me. well, here I am and I am never too busy to talk to one of my little ones, especially when you call to me with troubles. I have seen your distress but I had to wait for you to want my help as I would never force my way into your life." By now poor Ripley's eyes were as big as the moon. he was so amazed, he said, "is, is that, crumbs, is that really the Great One?" "Yes Ripley it is." poor Ripley he didn't know what to do. he jumped up, then he got on his knees, he whispered to Sylvia Cypress "quick Sylvia get on your knees," she just laughed with a delightful little giggle and said, "silly rabbit, I have no knees." "well then, bow down your branches or something." but the Great One just said, "relax, relax, I live within you, I can talk to you from your heart no matter if you are on your head, your knees, or even under water, so just relax and talk to me about your problem regarding the little willow tree." Goodness, how did he know, thought Ripley. "Well, you see, your Greatness", said Ripley, It's like this," "hold on now son," said the Great One, "do you think you could just call me Father? it sounds so much more friendly" "well Sir, er, Father, we just don't know how to help Miss Willow, she has been crying for such a long time, we tried telling her she has beautiful branches, we even got a mirror and showed her how lovely she is but she just cried harder than ever." "did you ask her why she cries all the time?" asked Father. "er, no we didn't, nobody thought of that, but it is a good idea, I will do it, maybe I should call a meeting first though so we can all hear why our dear friend has been distressed for so long." "all right Ripley, you may do that, some others also could have a tale to tell which should teach you all a valuable lesson." Well this really had Ripley puzzling over what the Father meant by all He had said, but he knew one thing for sure, he really liked calling the Great Creator of everything, his Father, it made him feel all warm inside and very special, Ripley thought a lot about this as he went from one to another letting them know that he wanted them all to attend this special meeting which had been approved of by the Great One, His Father. When the group were all assembled Ripley told them of the day's events, and of his conversation with his newly found Father, who had been there all along, but Ripley just had never taken the time to discover this wonderful fact. They were all wide eyed with wonder at the story they were hearing and could not imagine why not one of them had ever thought to ask Miss Willow why she cried so much, there and then they decided, first thing in the morning they would go and investigate this mystery. "Right are we all here? it's time we went to see our friend and sort out once and for all the reason for her misery" said Ripley. so off they all went in the direction of the pond. when they arrived Ripley, who seemed to have voted himself into the position of spokesman, stepped forward and said, "excuse us please Miss Willow, but we need to know the answer to a very important question." "sniffle, sniffle, sob, sob, yes Ripley, what do you want to know." "well dear little friend, we all want to know why you cry so much, what caused this unhappiness in your life?" "Oh, boo, hoo, hoo, I must cry" she said "but why?" asked Ripley yet again. "well" said the willow, "a long time ago, before the pond, when this was a beautiful park and small humans used to come and play here a lot, something happened one day and I have had to cry ever since" by now Ripley and the others were beginning to get a little bit impatient to know the reason, "what was it that happened?" they all asked at once "It was a beautiful spring day and I was enjoying the sunshine when two large humans, the ones they call men, came along and pushed a post into the ground over there", she waved a branch in the general direction, "then they nailed a sign on to the post and one man read out, `Weeping Willow, protect our trees', then he said to the other man, `this beauty can weep in this spot for many, many years to come, our sign should see that she comes to no harm', and I have been waiting and waiting for them to return to tell me when I can stop but they seem to have forgotten all about me completely." Just then Casper the big ghost gum tree, stood right in front of Miss Willow and he said in his booming voice, "tell me dear girl, do you find me to be just a little bit fearsome." "dear me no, Casper," she said, "you've always been so friendly to us all," he said, "well how do you suppose that is? if you must constantly weep simply because of your name, surely I must be very scary, I am a Ghost Gum after all you know." While all this was going on, Ripley had decided to call the Father again for His answer now that they knew what the problem had been, so while it looked like he was just politely listening to the conversation, he was actually listening to the Father who was speaking in his heart. The Father was saying, "You must tell her that I created her to be a beautiful happy tree, and the name Weeping Willow was a description that man gave to explain why her branches hang down so gracefully. You must also tell her that true happiness will never come by trying to live up to the expectations of another and that the only real happiness is in doing what the Great One created her to do." and from that day forward the weeping ceased. The whole of Woodland rejoiced every time they heard her sweet little laughing voice when she was amused by the antics of the ducks on her pond swimming and diving doing what they were best at. but by far absolutely the best thing of all was the fact that when the others heard Ripley's story about His Father, they all decided one by one to see if they could talk to Him themselves and soon all of Woodland were freely talking with the Great One and calling Him Father. This neighbourhood became known far and wide as the happiest and nicest place to be in the whole forest, many others from distant areas came to visit and ask questions about this new happening and soon it became a regular meeting each week under Miss Willow's lovely branches, so they could tell each other their stories about the wonderful things happening in their lives since they had all asked the Great One to please be their Father as well and to help them solve all their little difficulties and problems, but the best time of all was when they got to share their news with the new visitors each week, and to listen to all the ooh's and aah's as each one retold their story. Woodland is just the nicest place to be these days. THE END 
Top tags: ripley, willow, father, miss, stop, beautiful, branches, hoo, talk, rabbit
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