The Big Help – Cindy Saves the Trees
By Julia A. Keirns
“Oh, no! Daddy’s mowing the yard!” Cindy darted out the back door and hurried to stop him.
“Daddy, stop!” she hollered.
“What is it?” he asked.
“You can’t mow down all the new tree starts! You have to mow around them!”
“But Cindy, I mow those down every year. Those are just from the Maple seeds.”
“Well, you can’t mow them down this year. Haven’t you heard about Global Warming? Or the hole in the ozone layer? Don’t you know we are supposed to save the trees!”
“They are not talking about the trees in our yard, Cindy,” he said. “They are talking about forests. It will take planting a lot of trees to make a difference.”
“If everyone left their maple seeds grow into trees instead of mowing them off it would make a difference,” she argued.
“I can’t turn our yard into a forest,” he answered.
“Why not?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I just can’t.”
“But daddy, saving the trees is one of the best ways we can help the environment. Leaving just one tree grow would be okay. Leaving a few trees grow would be better. But leaving all the trees grow would be great!” she said. “You want to be part of the Big Help, don’t you?”
He stared at her for a long time. Cindy did not stand her ground with him very often so he knew this was important to her.
“Okay,” he finally said.
“Okay? Really?” She couldn’t believe it. “Do you really mean it Daddy? We can keep them?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“Oh, Daddy, thank you! Now I am the happiest girl in the world.”
“Well I am glad you are happy,” he said. “When you’re happy, I’m happy. But there is just one more thing.”
“Yes Daddy, anything. What is it?”
‘You had better not take too long mowing around all those new little trees. We have plans tonight.”
“Me? Mow the yard? You’re kidding, right? I can’t mow the yard,” she said.
“Why not?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I just can’t.”
“Yes, you can,” he answered. “You want to be part of the Big Help don’t you?”
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Storybird review – “What a cute little story! I appreciate how passionate Cindy is about the trees. Maybe she can be just as passionate about mowing the lawn! Keep up the good work!” Reviewed by kimberlythesecond