COMPOSITION

Story of a cherry.

Describe a forest. Trees. Animals.

People. What they were doing.

Vesterday, at tea-time, I was all alone. It was a dark and dreary November evening, the fire was brightly burning in the large nursery-chimney. I had the tea-pot all to my self, and the jam was solely mine, a very rare thing indeed! I said I was alone. I soon found out [I wasn’t though, for I heard quite close to me an animated conversation. From where it came ] could not guess immediately. However, after some time I found out it issued from the cherry-jam. The voice was that of a pert-looking red cherry that was.telling its companions about its former life. Much interested, I claimed my part of the tale and this is what I heard : « When the orchard was just taking its snowmantle off, I began to realize I was a living thing, and that, one day or other I would see the light of day. I was a tiny little clump of sap, inside the topmost branch of the highest cherry tree. Every second, every minute, other drops of sap came pushing me further on, further on, till, one April morning I came out into the world, I could not help finding the world beautiful. AIl the other fruit-trees were covered with little green buds. When the sun shone it made them glisten like satin, the dew looked like diamonds hanging on them : Every day, the sun came back to our orchard, and stayed with us till the evening came. He warmed us and kissed

us and told us so many funny things, that we laughed like ri madthings. Once, I laughed so much that my little satin RUN corsets burst open and behold! My blossom sprang out. A.

darling blossom it was, so white and soft! All the other orchard-trees were in full bloom too. The air was fragrant, the

sun was more and more pleasant and the nights were cool and.

calm. How sad I was when, one after the other my petals fell off, and were played with by the wind ! Only at the end of my stem the heart of the flower was left. I still felt the sap coming, every second to make me grow. And my little green heart began to feel very full. To my astonishment, one day, the ‘brooklet showed me I was getting of a delicate pink. My heart grew as hard as a stone. Every day I got pinker and pinker and larger and larger, till my pink hue got red, and at last of a beautiful purple colour. I was a fruit now. The little village-children fetched ladders and climbed up the tree to pluck me. I was thrown into a basket with many other purple cherries. I was brought with them into the large hitcher of this house, where a jolly old cook pulled off my stem, took out my heart, without hurting me at all. 1 was thrown, in a large basin with all my comrades and the basin was put on the fire. It was tremendously hot there. After. some time we were taken off and divided in small groups. Each group was put in à cool glass jar. And now, our life is going to finish in the mouth of....?

«€ May » said I.

And what ever you may say of my hard-heartedness, I will

confess [ had the cruel courage to eat, and even the ferocity oi

to... relish them.

MAY