Once upon a time in the village of Westbury there was a little girl called Hanny, who lived with her grandparent. She was only 5 yrs old but already she know the importance of love, care, honestly and friendship. Hanny amused herself mostly by walking in the fields that surrounded Westbury. She was allowed to go anywhere she wanted except into Autumn Wood. She never asked the reason for this, but her grandparents were adamant about their wishes and for a long time she obeyed. One day she was out walking by the River Trym, her favourite walk, because the river sang to you when you were near it, she looked and and saw in the distance the edge of Autumn Wood, she thought to herself, 'Just having a look couldn't hurt'. So she climbed over the sty into the field where the sleeping sheep lived and up to the edge of the wood. She couldn't see a way into the wood because of the thick gnarled briars. As she was about to give up she saw a great silky rabbit sitting at the edge of its burrow. Good morning Mr Rabbit, I am looking for a way into the wood and cant find one’ 'Good morning my dear', said the rabbit in a smooth deep voice, there is only one way in and that is through the Badgers den, I'll show you the way.' 'Oh yes please' she exclaimed excitedly. The Rabbit was singing away to its self as they walked. They got to the Badgers Den and the rabbit told her to go down the hole and turn right and she'd been in the wood. She thanked the rabbit and before she knew it she was standing in Autumn Wood. It was very quiet and dark, but it didn't scare her, it just seemed sad. She walked along the path, kicking up the leaves and laughing to herself, she loved being outdoors.Ìý As she walked she noticed all the trees were leafless, she wanted desperately to know the secret of the wood. Suddenly she saw two silver doves sitting up high in a tree, they looked like statues, she called out to them, 'Good morning Mr and Mrs Dove, can I talk to you?' But they made no response.Ìý The leaves at her feet rustled and she saw a badgers nose poking out from the leaf pile. She bent down and said, I'm sorry Mr Badger if I woke you; I was trying to speak to the Doves'. The badger sat back on his hind legs, rubbed his eyes with his silky paws and said in a sleepy voice, 'They won't talk to you, they haven't talked to anyone for as long I can remember'. 'But why and why is it autumn here, it should be spring.' 'Slow down little girl, one question at a time, I have only just woken up'. Hanny decided to sit down and wait till Mr Badger had woken up, he obviously knew the answers to this wood and she wanted to know too. Mr Badger said, 'Now my dear which question do you want answered first' 'Well, um, I don't know, how about a different question, how about, what is the matter with this wood?' 'Well, that's an easy question to answer. My grand father told me the story. Years ago this wood thrived, there were bluebell carpets in May, daffodil carpets in March and birds of all colours and sizes. We Badgers had huge sets and we lived happily with the rabbits. Mr and Mrs Fox brought up their cubs and life in the wood was happy, we all helped each other and the trees protected us from harm. Then the silver doves came and decided they wanted to run the wood and they would do it all themselves with no help from us. What we didn't know is they suffered from terrible pride and couldn't ask for help, they couldn't run the wood by themselves and all the birds were very unhappy and started to leave, the flowers stopped growing. So the Oak tree cast a spell on the doves, until they ask for help, the wood would stay in autumn'. 'But what help do the doves need to ask for?' Said Hanny 'They need to ask to be carried out of the wood, so they can sing to all the birds, foxes, badgers and rabbits that left and ask them to come back to help run the wood'. 'Well I can carry them out', said Hanny 'Yes you can but they need to ask you', said the Badger So Hanny stood up and looked up at the Doves and said, 'Dear Mr and Mrs Dove for as long as I can remember I have lived in Westbury with my grand parents and they have always told me not to come into this wood, but from what Mr Badger says you have the power to bring life back to this wood This wood doesn't have to be empty and dark. Please ask!' With that she ran up the Oak tree to the Doves and gave them a big kiss. She heard a small voice say - 'Please will you take us out to the wood'. Hanny didn't have to be asked twice, she picked up the silver doves and ran, and Mr Badger was running behind her calling out, 'Wait for me'. She didn't stop but climbed through the badger's den out into the field. She carefully set the silver doves down, and as she did so they stopped looking like statues, they stretched their wings and flew up into the sunshine. They swooped down and coo'ed, 'Thank you' to Hanny. Mr Badger finally caught up with Hanny and said in a breathless voice, 'Wait and see what happens now'. He and Hanny sat down on the warm grass with the sleeping sheep and watched. The doves flew round and round the wood, singing and coo'ing and as if by magic buds started sprouting on the trees, across the fields, rabbits danced towards the wood, blackbirds, sparrows, yellow wagtails and woodpeckers all began arriving. The floor of the wood became covered in bluebells and yellow primroses, Mr and Mrs Fox appeared followed by their cubs and bounced into the wood and the whole place became alive with the fragrance of flowers and the sound of bird song. The two doves came back and landed at Hanny's feet and coo’ed to her,Ìý'Without your love we would never have asked for help, Thank you' The joy that filled Hanny was immense and her heart felt like it was going to explode, she picked up the doves and gave them a huge hug and kiss, then said, 'Asking for help is a hard thing to do, but as you can see it brings life back into the darkness'. | 
