The Four Seasons Find A New Home (part 4)

Winter made friends with a White Wolf one night, and they had so much fun they decided they might just as well have some more. So when it was time for the Windman to come and Whoooosh! the Windman came, the White Wolf and Winter flew back together to move into Spring's house to stay.

Spring came out then when those two went in, and the whole story started all over again just the way I've been saying. And it happened the next year the same way too, and the year after that, and the year after that, year after year after year in fact, and it seems that it always will. With four different Seasons and only three houses they just have to share, and one of them always is free to roam and make a home wherever seems best.

Even though one day the people all came and built up our town and every thing in it, the Seasons continued to take their turns. And down to this day it goes on the same way as it did before. Each Season spends almost nine months away before coming to stay with us here in town. And the Windman blows them back and forth when it's time for a seasonal change.

There's one part more at the heart of this story to tell before it can end. When the waters drew back and land reappeared, the First Land appeared as well. The battered trunk of the Magic Tree was still in its place in the ground; and all the stumps of the other trees were in the same places they'd been in before when the people cut them down. The sun came out and shone bright and hot; at night the moon shone silvery cool. And all of a sudden one evening at sunset, a sprout grew out of the Magic Tree trunk.

The Magic Tree rested and dreamed through the night, and then in the strength of the next morning's light it grew and grew and grew. It branched and twigged and it branched again, then leaves unfurled in a swirl of green. The Magic Tree danced and sang its song, and when it did that the tree stumps stirred, they heard the song and began to grow too. Soon all the trees were whole again, renewed and strong and tall and free and the First Land was back just exactly the same as it had been originally.

This story is the third in a collection of seven stories and nine songs with numerous black and white pen and ink illustrations throughout. After Michael and Megan meet the Seasons, they have many adventures with Fall in particular as he steals Summer's socks, makes a chestnut pie for his friend the White Squirrel, and plays a Halloween trick on Winter. Many of the stories can be acted out and continued by the reader in their everyday life. Although this book is set in Toronto, it can be adapted to fit any North American urban centre.