Victoria Leigh and the Wishing Tree

Victoria Leigh was a naughty girl, who never wanted to go to sleep.

"But Mummy!" she said, "I don't want to go to sleep, it is far too much fun playing with my toys."

"Victoria Leigh" said Mummy sternly, "You must go to sleep, otherwise, think of all the adventures you will miss."

 "Adventures?" said Victoria Leigh, looking confused. "What adventures?"

"Only when you sleep can you visit the magical Wishing Tree" said Mummy with a smile. "The tree will grant you one wish per night and it can be anything you want." said Mummy

 "Wow!" said Victoria Leigh, "and I can wish for anything I want?"

 "Anything", replied Mummy "now close your eyes, and go to sleep."  

 "But Mummy, how will I find the wishing tree?" said Victoria Leigh, as she yawned and snuggled down under her purple duvet.

"Don't worry, your friends will guide you" said Mummy as she left the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Victoria Leigh lay in the dark, staring at the glowing stars she had stuck on her bedroom ceiling. She really wanted to find the Wishing Tree, but she didn't know how to get there.

Suddenly, she heard a sing-song voice in the dark.

"Hello Victoria Leigh!"

Victoria Leigh, switched on her night light and peered at the foot of her bed. She stared at her soft toys, they were all there. Rufus the rabbit, Daisy Dog and Lemon bear (so called for his pale yellow fur). All of sudden, Daisy Dog started to move! She stepped forward on Victoria's bed.

"Hi!" Daisy waved her paw frantically.

Victoria Leigh couldn't believe what she was seeing!

 "Daisy Dog?" she said, finding her voice.

 "Yes" said Daisy "I am here to take you to the Wishing Tree! It can only be found with the help of very special toys like me. Take my paw".

Victoria Leigh stretched out her hand and grasped Daisy Dog's paw. Then they were flying, surrounded by hundreds of different coloured clouds. Red, purple, pink, blue and yellow clouds swirled all around them until suddenly, it was daylight and Victoria Leigh found herself in a big field full of purple flowers.

 In front of her was a huge tree, with enormous branches stretching high into the sky and out to the sides. It had millions of thick green leaves, and the branches looked perfect for climbing.

"We are here!" said Daisy. She walked forward to a big knot hole on the trunk of the tree and pressed it.

Suddenly the tree began to shake, its branches waved and Victoria Leigh was covered in green leaves.

"Who has come to visit me?" said a rather deep voice.

 "Wishing tree, Wishing Tree I bring a friend to visit thee" said Daisy in a very clear voice.

 "Who is your friend?" replied the Wishing Tree, and Victoria Leigh could now see two eyes had opened on its trunk and some of its bark had twisted to look like a mouth.

 "This is Victoria Leigh" said Daisy, "she is a special friend and would like a wish."

 Victoria Leigh was worried, now she was here she hadn't thought about what she wanted to wish for!

 "If you can’t think of what to wish for”, said Daisy, noticing how worried Victoria Leigh looked “think of something simple, something that you like”.

 "What is it you wish for Victoria Leigh?" boomed the Wishing Tree

"Erm, I would like a tea party, with lots of presents, and chocolate cake, and sausage rolls, and crisps and fizzy drinks and the chocolate cake needs to be so big that I can take it home and have chocolate cake whenever I like." she said

"Hmmmm, said the Wishing Tree thoughtfully " I will see what I can do, close your eyes."

Victoria Leigh closed her eyes and then opened them 10 seconds later (she wasn't very patient).

In front of her was a huge table covered in lots of yummy food, sweets, fizzy drinks and a big chocolate cake with her name on it. There was also a bouncy castle for her and Daisy to play on and water pistols to play with.

"This is brilliant!" cried Victoria Leigh bouncing high on the bouncy castle.

"It’s the best party ever!" said Daisy tucking into the sausage rolls on the table.

Daisy and Victoria Leigh had a fabulous afternoon eating all the food and bouncing on the bouncy castle in the field. When the sun got too hot, they picked up the water pistols and had a huge water fight!

"This has been the best day ever" said Victoria Leigh, sitting down at the table as the sun was starting to go down.

"There is one last surprise for you" said Daisy, and she pulled out a white box with a blue ribbon. Inside was a small green plant in a brown pot.

"What's this?" said Victoria Leigh.

"Its a chocolate cake flower plant!" said Daisy looking very happy "when the flower comes out it is made of chocolate cake. It will flower at least once a week so you can have chocolate cake whenever you like!"

Victoria Leigh was so excited, she gave Daisy a big hug "thank you Daisy Dog" she said.

"Now, we must be going" said Daisy. "Take my paw again."

All at once they were surrounded by colourful clouds and then it went dark. Victoria Leigh could feel her bed underneath her, and her pillow. She was home.

She sat up and looked at the end of her bed, Daisy Dog was there with her other toys.

"Goodnight Daisy Dog, and thank you for taking me to the Wishing Tree" she said, but Daisy did not reply.

Victoria Leigh hid the chocolate cake flower under her bed for safe keeping and snuggled down under the duvet. She couldn't wait to go to sleep tomorrow night so that she could make more wishes and have more adventures.