Cloud Thought 19. 'Meeting Hazel.'

 Meeting Hazel~ A Short Story For Children On Achieving Happiness

Summer Holiday:

Jenny and Sam were bored. It was the start of the Summer Holiday and their parents had taken them to the caravan park they always went to when they were little. They hadn’t been there for a few years now as Dad couldn’t get much time off and Mum said they couldn’t really afford it.

Jenny and Sam used to love going there when they were little. They enjoyed making sand castles on the beach and eating ice-creams on the pier but now they felt they were getting too old for all that. Little kids liked making sand castles, not them. They wanted to play on their Play Stations which had been left at home. Mum had said that she wanted the children to have ten days without computers, video games or mobile phones. She had left her own mobile phone at home too, in order to set a good example.

Mum had brought a big pile of real books with her. She had even refused to pack her Kindle. She had read somewhere that it was good for families to spend time together, away from technology. Dad had packed board games and art supplies. Apparently, years ago, Dad used to be an artist. Jenny and Sam had even seen some photographs of an art exhibition that he had held before they were born. He didn’t seem to have any time for all that now. He had a job in the local Supermarket. He was a supervisor and always seemed to be working overtime. Mum complained that they hardly saw him anymore. In fact, Mum and Dad had been arguing a lot lately. The holiday was their attempt to spend quality time together to see if they could get on better.

The family were hoping the holiday would provide a welcome break for them all. Jenny had been having a hard time at school. She was left out of playground games and she found school work a real nightmare. No matter how hard she tried, she struggled to read. She also found it very hard to make friends. Sam felt sorry for her but there wasn’t much he could do to help his sister. He liked her but didn’t really want her hanging around with him and his friends all the time.

Things worked out OK for Jenny at first, once they arrived on holiday. Jenny and Sam went around together. They played at the play park and spent time playing board games back at the caravan, when the weather was bad. After a couple of days, Sam made friends with some other boys who played at the football pitch and soon, Jenny was left on her own feeling more bored and lonely than ever.

She sat around in the caravan until Mum got fed up with her. Dad had gone out painting and Mum had been looking forward to some quiet reading time. Having her bored daughter sitting and staring at her put her off. Mum told Jenny to go out to get some fresh air. She reminded her of the little wood that surrounded the caravan park. It was a lovely little wood with cycle trails and incredible trees. Jenny felt a bit awkward going to the wood on her own, she would have preferred to have gone with Sam, but he was playing football. She could hear the boys shouting and laughing together as she passed the football pitch.

Exploring The Wood:

It was a beautifully sunny day. Jenny walked about for a while in the wood enjoying the coolness of the trees. She came to a clearing and sat down in the grass. She unpacked a drink and a packet of crisps from her rucksack. She enjoyed the crisps and sipped the drink. She was happy being in the wood at first, but thoughts of loneliness started to creep in. Jenny badly needed a friend. She was so tired of hanging about trying to persuade her brother to play with her and she was upset and worried about the amount of arguments her parents were having. Things had been stressful recently. The more she thought about her life, the sadder she started to feel. Before she knew it, great big tears had begun to roll down her face. Once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop. Jenny sobbed and sobbed until she was exhausted. Once she had cried all her tears away, she started to calm down a little and took in her surroundings. She lay on the grass and started to notice the warmth of the sun beating down on her skin. She watched the puffy white clouds passing across the clear blue sky. Her eyes felt heavy and the lids started to droop. Before long Jenny was dozing.

Some time passed. It was so warm and peaceful in the field. Jenny had no idea how long she had been sleeping but after a while she was woken by the sound of someone approaching. She heard twigs breaking underfoot. The sound woke her up. She sat up and felt a little woozy as she had been lying in the sun for quite a while. By this time, it was cooler. Jenny looked around her and could see that she was being watched by a girl who was propped up against a tree.

Meeting Hazel:

The girl had tanned skin and was tall and slim. She had long, dark, curly hair and wore large hooped gold earrings. She looked about Jenny’s age.

“Hello.” She called over to the girl.

The girl replied, “Hello, who are you?”

Jenny introduced herself. The girl announced that her name was Hazel. She asked Jenny if she would like to come and play with her.

Jenny asked her where she was staying. She assumed that Hazel might be staying in the caravan park. Hazel explained that she was camping in a tent, not far from where they were. She asked Jenny if she would like to come and visit and Jenny agreed that she would. She got up and followed the girl. They walked through the wood together. Jenny didn’t really recognise the route, but she wasn’t too worried. Mum had been fine about her exploring the wood and Hazel had said she was camping nearby.

A short walk later and Jenny found herself following her new friend into a small field which contained some tepees. There was a small fire burning in the centre of the field which had a beautiful cooking pot hanging over it. Three dogs came running over to greet them. Jenny was worried about the dogs at first, but Hazel assured her that they would not hurt her.

They were wire-haired friendly dogs. One was grey, one was sandy brown and the other was completely black. Hazel introduced them as Kizzy, Wilber and Bob.

A beautiful woman was sitting on a stool by the fire. She seemed to be watching the pot boiling on the fire. She waved at Hazel and called her over.

“Introduce me to your friend.” she asked.

Hazel explained that the woman was her mother and that her name was Phoebe.

Jenny was amazed at how young the woman looked. She had the same beautiful curly black hair as her daughter and was wearing a long red dress, partly covered by a grey shawl.

Phoebe asked the children to join her. Lunch was nearly ready. She was making a delicious stew. Jenny could smell it cooking and it made her mouth water. It smelt spicy and smoky. It made Jenny feel very hungry.

Jenny hesitated for a moment, maybe she should go back and let her mother know where she was? She didn’t have her mobile phone, so she couldn’t phone her. She asked Phoebe if she could borrow her phone. She could try phoning Dad. He had brought his phone, if only she could remember his number. It turned out that Phoebe didn’t have a phone either, nor did Hazel. Jenny decided to stay for a little longer and then go back to the caravan park, so Mum wouldn’t be worried.

Phoebe started serving up the stew. She poured it into bowls and gave the girls chunks of crusty bread to dip in. It was one of the most delicious meals that Jenny had ever tasted.

Mum wasn’t much of a cook and neither was Jenny. She found herself telling Phoebe and Hazel about her life. She told them that she had been really bored on the holiday so far. She explained that Sam was too busy playing football with his new friends to bother with her. She explained that Mum and Dad hadn’t been getting on and that she was worried about them. She talked and talked. Once she started talking she found it impossible to stop. She explained how stupid she felt at school. She told Phoebe and Hazel that she was useless at school work and rubbish at sport. She seemed to talk for an age. Phoebe and Hazel were good listeners. They sat at the fire listening carefully without interrupting until Jenny finally stopped speaking.

We Are All Unique:

After a long pause, Phoebe began to speak:

“Remember, you are unique, Jenny. We are all different. We are good at some things and find other things difficult. When we stop comparing ourselves to other people and start to discover the things that we are good at, we feel happier. What are you good at? Can you sing, draw, sew or dance? What lessons do you enjoy at your school? If you are not sure what you are good at then looking at the things you enjoy doing can be a good place to start. If you are interested in something, then you are more likely to want to learn about it. You are more likely to try. When you try your best at something, you are more likely to do well in that area.”

Jenny was totally absorbed by what Phoebe was saying. She sounded so kind and thoughtful as she spoke, that Jenny felt that she could learn such a lot from her.

Phoebe continued, “If you are not sure what you are good at, then ask someone you trust. They can tell you what they think you are good at.  Life would be boring if we were all good at the same thing. We are all born with gifts and talents. This is what makes us unique. There is nobody else exactly like you in this world. The world wouldn’t be the same without you in it. “

Jenny absorbed what Phoebe was saying. It made so much sense.

“All you need to do is to find your talent and use it.

Once you have discovered what you are good at, it is up to you to make good use of your talent. Whatever you are good at, so long as you are interested in it and enjoy doing it then it makes sense to find time to work on it.

I have met quite a lot of adults who say that they were good at something when they were younger but they didn’t find time for their talent and so they gave up. It is a great idea to find a balance between working on your talent and making sure you learn other skills that you need in life. “

Jenny looked at Phoebe. She looked so kind and showed such an interest in her that she felt completely at ease. Phoebe seemed like a very wise teacher.

Jenny asked her, “Are you a teacher, you seem to know so much and you explain things so well?”

Phoebe looked at her daughter and they both laughed. Hazel explained that her mother had never been to school.

Jenny was amazed.

She wanted to know why this was. Phoebe shrugged and explained that there are lots of different ways to learn. School was one way, but she learnt from talking to people, listening to them and spending her time in Nature.

Jenny asked who else was camping with Phoebe and her daughter. Phoebe explained that her sister Suzie was in one tent with her partner and their baby son. The remaining tent belonged to her father. He liked hiking in the woods and was gone for days at a time, but he liked to come back for a few days and enjoy some of Phoebe’s wonderful food every now and then.

Jenny really appreciated the time Phoebe was taking to talk to her, to listen to her and to help her. She told her that she wished she could be like her or Hazel instead of being the clumsy, awkward shy girl that she was.

Be Kind:

It was Hazel’s turn to speak this time. She looked directly over at Jenny and gently told her, “It is time for you to learn how to be kind to yourself.

Lots of people can be very kind and helpful to their family and friends but aren’t very kind to themselves. They say nice things to the people they care about but find it hard to say nice things about themselves. It is important to be able to see the good in yourself. If you find this difficult, ask someone you trust to tell you what they think is good about you. We find it hard to be good friends to other people when we are not friendly to ourselves. It is a good idea to treat yourself as you would a good friend. If you wouldn’t say something to a friend because you know it would hurt their feelings, then don’t think it about yourself. Try being kinder to yourself and see how much happier you feel.

Jenny allowed her words to sink in. She cried a little as Hazel was speaking, mainly because she was being so kind and seemed to care about how Jenny was feeling and to want to help her.

Once she felt calm enough, she replied:

“But isn’t it important to be kind to others?”

Phoebe agreed that this is very important.

She explained, “Humans are designed to be together. We are sociable creatures. When we are born we depend on parents to look after us until we can do things for ourselves. When we grow up we look after other people and then, when we get older still, we sometimes need help from other people to look after ourselves. Being kind to other people is very important. If we see someone looking unhappy, we can ask them if they are OK. If people ask for help, we can offer to help them. Doing something nice for our friends and family can really make their day. Smiling at people as you walk past them can cheer them up if they are having a bad day. Being thoughtful and kind to other people makes life better for them but it makes us happier too. Try it for yourself.”

Jenny agreed that it was important for people to be kind to one another. She thanked Phoebe and Hazel for being so kind to her.

Phoebe felt it was time for Jenny to go back to the caravan. She explained that it was getting late and she didn’t want her mother to worry. She asked Hazel to walk her back to the caravan park, so she wouldn’t get lost in the woods.

Jenny thanked Phoebe for the soup and for being such a good listener. Phoebe hugged her and waved goodbye as her daughter walked Jenny back to the caravan site. As they got close to the site, Hazel told Jenny that she needed to get back to the tepees.

They gave each other a hug and arranged to meet up the following day.

Jenny was in a happy mood as she jogged back to the caravan. Mum was busy burning baked beans on toast when she got back, and Sam was setting up the Monopoly.

Nobody asked her where she had been, but Jenny didn’t mind. She wanted to keep Hazel to herself, so she decided to keep their meeting a secret for the time being.

Dad got back just in time for tea and the family got on pretty well, playing Monopoly afterwards. Things were OK until Mum and Dad got a bit drunk and started arguing. Sam and Jenny decided it would be a good idea to go to bed at this point.

The next morning things seemed calmer. Dad arranged to go out painting again and Mum settled down to another one of the great pile of books that she had brought with her. Sam ate breakfast and went out to play football, while Jenny packed a few snacks and a couple of drinks into her rucksack and then asked if she could spend the day in the woods. Mum was happy to hear that Jenny wanted to go out again and gave permission providing she came back before it got dark.

Jenny jogged into the wood and retraced her steps until she found the clearing once more. She sat down in the grass and waited for Hazel. It was hot again and before too long, Jenny had dozed off. She was woken by her friend Hazel gently shaking her arm. Jenny woke up, yawned and stretched. Hazel asked her if she would like to come to the camp again. Jenny happily agreed.

This time Phoebe had been washing clothes and was hanging them out on a line she had tied between two trees. The dogs were happily gnawing on bones they had been given and this time Suzie was sitting by the fire with a sweet baby in her arms. He was fast asleep and looked so cosy in a little knitted baby-grow. Hazel explained that she had made it for him. She said that she loved sewing and knitting. Jenny explained that she was hopeless at making things.

Suzie started to talk. She had long blonde wavy hair and looked a little older than Phoebe. You could tell that they were sisters as their faces were a similar shape.

Be Creative:

Suzie explained that making things can be fun.

Suzie said, “It can be tempting to buy everything from the shop, made by somebody else but learning to make things for yourself is an important skill and can be very enjoyable. People love receiving home-made cards or cakes on their birthday, for example. You don’t need to use expensive materials to make things. There are lots of magazines and books that you can look at to help you make virtually anything you want if you need some ideas. What are you good at making? Whatever you are good at you can use your talents to help you make lovely gifts for your family and friends.”

Jenny agreed. She told Suzie that she wished that she was good at making things.

Suzie offered to teach Jenny to knit. She had been the one that had taught Hazel. Jenny happily agreed. Phoebe went into her tent and came out with some beautiful black and purple wool. She had knitting needles that she handed to Jenny. Hazel looked after baby Freddie and Phoebe started making some delicious pancakes that she cooked in a pan over the fire.

Jenny found knitting difficult, but Suzie was so patient that she kept going and before long she had made a stripy scarf big enough for a teddy bear.

Phoebe served her delicious cakes and Hazel played with little Freddie.

Jenny had really enjoyed her afternoon.  She realised that it was time to go and Hazel walked her back to the site. They agreed to meet up again the following day.

The next day Jenny was up bright and early. She hid the little scarf she made in her suitcase. She packed some snacks and went back to the clearing. Her family were pleased that she had found a way of entertaining herself as they were enjoying their own hobbies. This time when Jenny arrived at the camp, a man was sitting with Freddie on his lap. He introduced himself as Billy, Freddie’s Dad.

Jenny got on well with Billy as he was just like the others, kind and friendly.

They shared their soup with Jenny and then asked her if she would like to go for a walk with Suzie, Billy and Hazel. Jenny explained that she didn’t really like walking. In fact, she wasn’t keen on any exercise.

Billy explained, “Exercise is very good for you. Some people say that they don’t like exercise when maybe they just haven’t found the right type of exercise for them. What exercise do you think you might enjoy? Do you like team games or do you prefer exercising on your own? Exercise doesn’t have to be expensive. Jogging costs nothing and is a good form of exercise, for example. Once you find some exercise that you will enjoy doing, try and make sure you get plenty of exercise. Exercise is very good for your health and it can really help to lift your mood when you are feeling fed up. Try it for yourself and I think you will find you feel happier.

Hazel persuaded Jenny to come on the walk with Suzie, Billy and herself. Jenny was rather reluctant at first but once they started the walk, she couldn’t help but become interested. The others clearly loved Nature and they knew the names of the flowers, trees and animals that they came across. They were able to identify the tracks made by different types of deer and they knew the calls of the birds.

After a long walk in beautiful countryside Hazel walked Jenny back to her caravan site once more. Hazel told her to get up early the next day as she had a place that she wanted to show her, and it took quite a long time to get there and back again. Jenny was excited to know where she would be going. She said goodbye to her friend and ran back to her caravan in time for tea.

Honesty:

That evening Jenny was walking past her Dad’s phone which was left on the arm of the sofa. As she walked past, it fell onto the laminate floor and the screen cracked.  Jenny was horrified. Concerned that Dad would go mad when he found out she slipped the phone face down back onto the sofa and went to her room.

It didn’t take long for Dad to notice. Jenny and Sam jumped when they heard the roar, “Who has done this to my phone?”

Both children rushed into the lounge protesting their innocence. Dad demanded to know who had broken it. Mum was looking accusingly at them both.

“I bet it’s you!” she yelled at Sam.

Sam denied it of course but as Jenny didn’t say anything, he got the blame and was sent to bed early.

The next day Jenny got up early and went to the clearing where Hazel was waiting for her. Jenny was feeling rather guilty about Sam. He had been told he was grounded that day, so he wasn’t allowed to go and play football with his friends.

Jenny was rather quiet, so Hazel asked her what was wrong. Eventually Jenny admitted that she had accidentally broken her Dad’s phone then left her brother to take the blame.

Hazel gave her friend a hug.

“Don’t worry, you can fix this.” She said.

She explained, “Being honest is very important. It can be difficult to be honest if you have made a mistake and you are being asked to own up, but it is better to tell the truth rather than cover up what has happened. Some people find it hard to be honest with people as they do not want to upset them. This is understandable. Sometimes we are invited to something we don’t want to go to and we make up a reason why we can’t go. We don’t want to upset the person that has invited us, so we make something up to get out of going without upsetting them. The trouble is that once we stop being honest there is a good chance that we will get found out in the end and this can upset people more than if we had told the truth in the first place. There are ways to politely tell people we don’t want to do something without the need to lie to them. It can be hard to be honest at first but once you get used to it you will find it gets easier. Not having to worry about telling the truth can make us happier.”

Jenny felt guilty after hearing this. She explained to Hazel that she wanted to go back to the caravan and explain what had happened.

Hazel was pleased to hear this and walked her friend back to the caravan park. She said that she would wait for her at the clearing early the next day.

When Jenny got back to the caravan, Dad was watching TV while Mum was reading. Sam was stuck in his room. Jenny went bright red as she entered the caravan. She felt terrible about what she had done.

Mum looked up and said, “You’re back early, is everything OK?”

“Not really,” Jenny mumbled and then she admitted the whole thing to Mum and Dad.

They both looked shocked as she explained what had happened but after Jenny had finished speaking Dad called her over for a hug.

“It took guts to tell the truth.” He said.

Mum and Dad agreed that Jenny would lose two weeks pocket money to help pay for the phone screen repair and she was told to apologise to Sam.

Sam was called out of his room and as he entered the lounge, Jenny started to cry.

She apologised to Sam and he stood staring angrily at her.

Mum asked Sam what he thought would be a good punishment for Jenny. She asked if he thought she should be grounded the next day. Sam thought for a while. He looked at Jenny. He felt a bit sorry for her to be honest. She had quite a lot of trouble at school with people teasing her and she didn’t have many friends. She had started going out on her own this holiday and she seemed a lot happier. It made a pleasant change for him to be able to go out and play football with his friends without Jenny tagging along all the time. Sam told Mum he didn’t think that Jenny should be grounded but maybe she could help Mum with some of the chores that day instead?

Mum thought this was a good idea.

She got Jenny to help her heat up their meals in the microwave and she had to do the washing up afterwards.

The next day Jenny was allowed to go out, so she packed up some snacks and went to the clearing to find Hazel. She explained what had happened once she got back to the caravan the previous day. She said that she had helped with the cooking and the washing up. Hazel told her friend that she loved to cook. Phoebe had taught her to cook from an early age.

She told Jenny, “Lots of people don’t know how to cook. Cooking is a very important skill to have. When you are an adult you will save money, and live more healthily if you know how to cook a balanced meal. Ready made food is more expensive and is usually quite high in salt and sugar. Maybe your family would be willing to teach you to cook or if they aren’t good at cooking they may be willing to let you try cooking using a recipe book. They may let you cook them a meal. It can be very rewarding cooking for your family and friends. Many people enjoy cooking as a hobby too. Try it for yourself!”

Jenny agreed that cooking was something she would like to learn how to do. Mum didn’t enjoy cooking, but she did have some recipe books at home, so Jenny decided that she would see if she could cook some of the recipes when she got home.

Meeting Elanor:

The girls enjoyed exploring the wood. Hazel took her friend into a deep part of the wood that she had never been to before. It was cool and very dark. Hazel called Jenny over to a beautiful oak tree. It had an enormous trunk. She walked round the tree and pointed inside. The tree was hollow inside! Jenny looked inside in surprise. The tree was very dark inside, but she could make out a large hole that had been dug out of the ground. Hazel climbed into the tree and started to crawl through the hole. Jenny felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness as she followed her friend. They crawled through a dark, narrow tunnel and after a short time the tunnel didn’t seem quite so dark. They stepped out of the tunnel into the light and found themselves in another clearing. It was a beautiful meadow with lush green grass and twisted trees swaying in the breeze. They stood side by side taking in the scene. At the edge of the field Hazel spotted a family of deer. She pointed them out to her friend.

This was such a beautiful place!

They stood watching the deer and as they started to move off, Hazel quietly followed them. Jenny came too.

They followed the deer along a small path and to Jenny’s surprise they came to a small cabin. Hazel seemed to know where she was. She went to the cabin door and knocked. Jenny stood beside her.

A very tiny, very old lady came to the door. She had long silver hair and extremely pointy ears. Jenny could not stop staring at her. The old lady welcomed Hazel with a hug and led her into the cabin. Jenny stood uncertainly at the door.

“Who do we have here?” The old lady enquired. She had a musical, sing-song voice. It was beautiful.

Hazel explained that Jenny was her friend.

“Human?” the lady enquired.

Hazel nodded.

Jenny was startled at this comment.

She didn’t know what to think.

The old lady smiled and welcomed Jenny into the cabin.

“Any friend of Hazel is a friend of mine even if you are a human!”

Jenny looked at her friend in confusion.
Hazel just smiled and gave her a wink.

Jenny walked into the cabin, where she was encouraged to sit on a beautiful wooden rocking chair.  The tiny woman put another lump of coal on her fire and then sat down herself. On the table beside her was a beautiful book.

Jenny looked over at the cover. It was illustrated with an exquisite picture of fairies and toadstools. The title of the book was ‘Elvish Book of Spells.’

Jenny was stunned.

Cold this woman be an elf?

Surely that was impossible. Elves only existed in fairy tales, didn’t they?

Hazel introduced the tiny woman as Elanor.

Elanor spotted Jenny looking over at her book and said,

“I love books? Do you like reading?”

Jenny shrugged. She admitted she didn’t read much. She found learning to read quite hard.

Reading Opens Doors:

Elanor told her, “Reading is a very important skill. Many humans learn to read at school and are fairly confident readers by the time they are around 7 years old. This is not always the case. Learning to read can be a struggle for many people but if they are taught in the right way for them and they are willing to keep trying, they can start to enjoy reading for themselves. Once you can read you are able to learn about so many things. There are so many fact and fiction books out there. You can find out about virtually anything that interests you. Books can be borrowed from the libraries or bought cheaply in second hand shops and boot-fairs. You can give people books that you have enjoyed reading or you can lend each other books that you enjoy. Some people enjoy listening to ‘Talking Books.’”

Jenny looked at Elanor in amazement. What she was saying made so much sense. She talked about humans again. What did she mean? Was Elanor human or something else? She was eager to find out but didn’t like to bring the subject up.

Elanor carried on talking, “Which authors do you enjoy? Talk to your school friends about the books they enjoy reading and they may be able to give you some good ideas for books that you might enjoy reading yourself. If you develop a love of reading you are rarely bored. You can curl up with a good book virtually anywhere. Books can stimulate your imagination and teach you about people and places that you may wish to visit one day. Try reading for yourself and see how happy it can make you. You aren’t very happy at the moment are you Jenny?”

Jenny was shocked at this. How could Elanor possibly know how she was feeling?

Elanor asked Jenny, “Give me your hand.”

Jenny looked over at Hazel who nodded encouragement.

Jenny held out her hand and Elanor took it gently. She turned it over so that she could see her palm and they she stared intently at it for what seemed like an age. In the end she started to speak.

“I can see that you are an unhappy girl. You have few friends and are very lonely. You go to a school that you don’t really like, and you have no real friends there. Your brother can be kind to you and your parents try their best, but you feel so alone most of the time.”

Jenny started to cry as Elanor told her this. She nodded in agreement.

“Don’t cry my dear.” Elanor soothed.

Writing Is Magical:

She put her hand down and continued to speak, “Writing down your ideas and thoughts in a diary is a very good way to record your feelings over time. Reading back over your diary entries you can see how things change. Making a note of good ideas is great too. Sometimes we have a good idea and we are excited about it only to find a few days later we have forgotten the idea! If we write an idea down it is there for us to return to whenever we want to. Recording our achievements in a diary can be very useful too. When we look back at all the exciting things we have done and all the great ideas we have had this can really boost our confidence and help us to feel happier. If we are having a hard time, recording our feelings can help us to let them go. Writing things down is a really good way of getting them out of our system and this allows us to feel happier. If you find writing difficult, you can draw pictures explaining how you feel.”

After saying this, Elanor got up and went into an adjoining room. A few moments later she returned with a tiny little book and a pen. She handed them to Jenny.

“These are for you.” Elanor said.

Jenny looked at the beautiful book. It had a little gold butterfly on the front. The pen had swirls and delicate flowers on it.

Jenny was delighted with her gift. She was determined to keep a diary, just as Elanor had suggested. She really thought that it might help. She loved the idea of expressing her thoughts and feelings through drawing or painting too.

As if she could read her mind, Elanor started talking again.” I feel that you have a gift for painting, but you don’t know it yet. Ask to borrow your fathers paints and pencils and you can use them to record your thoughts in pictures.”

Elanor explained that you don’t have to be a brilliant artist to enjoy drawing and painting. Drawing our ideas can be an excellent way of recording them so that we don’t forget. Drawing what we see around us is a good way of helping us focus on what is happening now which can stop us worrying about things that have happened in the past or might happen in the future. Painting can be equally relaxing and enjoyable. Learning to mix colours and experimenting with different sized brushes can be great fun and the process of painting can really give us a boost and help us to feel happy.

Jenny could hardly wait to get started. She thanked Elanor for her generosity.

Jenny was so happy that she had met Hazel. Her holiday went really fast. She enjoyed it so much.

Going Home:

On the last day of the holiday, Jenny felt sad. She didn’t want to go home. She loved spending time with Hazel. She waited for her in the clearing and straight away Hazel picked up that she wasn’t feeling happy. She asked her what the matter was. Jenny explained that she didn’t want to go home.  Hazel told her that she was going to teach her a way to feel happier. She explained that when we feel sad about things we can choose happier thoughts. She explained that the way we think about things affects how we feel and how we behave. Instead of thinking ‘It’s not fair I have to go home now, try thinking of how good your holiday has been and that you are looking forward to the next time you can come to the caravan.’

Jenny didn’t want to leave the caravan park and go back to feeling lonely at her home and school, but she could see what Hazel was saying was true. She spent time thinking of how much fun she had on her holiday and this put a smile on her face.

Hazel told her friend not to worry. She had a special way for them to stay in touch. She told Jenny that when she got home, all she needed to do was to go to the park at the end of her road and she would find her.

Jenny was baffled by this, but Hazel told her not to worry and that they would meet up again soon.

Hazel gave her friend a hug and walked her back to the caravan park. The family were going to return home the next day.

Before they said goodbye to each other, Hazel reminded her friend to keep writing in her diary. She told her it would really help her to learn about herself. Jenny agreed that she would write in the diary every day. She was excited about doing this.

The journey home was long and boring. Jenny entertained herself by writing in her diary. She wrote down her hopes and fears. Her writing kept her busy for ages. The final entry was about her wishing she had enough money to buy the things she wanted. The thing Jenny really wanted at the moment was a paint set so that she could experiment with painting.

 It was getting dark by the time they got home but early next morning Jenny got out of bed and asked Mum if she could go to the park. Mum was surprised at this suggestion and Jenny didn’t usually enjoy going out on her own, but she was pleased that her daughter was more willing to venture out. She told her that she could go for a couple of hours and then she needed to come home for lunch. Jenny agreed to this and got dressed and dashed out of the house. As she approached the park she started to worry that Hazel wouldn’t be there. Sure enough when she went to the swings she couldn’t find her. She started to walk towards the woods at the top of the park and as she did so, she heard a rustling coming from the bushes. She spotted a bird hopping and flapping across the park. It was a large, healthy looking wild bird. Jenny stopped to watch it. He hopped across the path and entered the bushes. Jenny had the urge to follow him. As she did so she spotted a large hollow tree. She hadn’t noticed it before. She looked into the tree and spotted a deep hole. Before she knew it, Jenny had climbed into the hole and was pushing her way through some undergrowth. A few moments later Jenny emerged on a woodland path. She was no longer in the park!

Jenny felt a little scared but mainly excited as she took in her surroundings. The wood was beautiful. She looked around and then she spotted her friend sitting on a tree stump watching her.

Jenny was delighted. She ran up to Hazel and hugged her.

‘I told you I would find you.’ Hazel reminded Jenny. Jenny was amazed. ‘How did you do that?’ she asked. ‘Was it magic?’

Hazel just smiled. She told Jenny that they could meet up whenever they wanted to now. She told her that she had been working on creating some adventures so that Jenny could start to feel happier.

Be Inspired!

“Today’s adventure will show you how to save for what you want. Let’s go and see Tom. Look he is over there on his bike.” Hazel remarked.

The girls walked over to where a boy was cycling up and down the road. When he saw Hazel, he came over to her and got off his bike. Hazel introduced Jenny to her friend. Jenny admired Tom’s bike. Tom smiled. He explained that he had bought the bike after saving up for months. Jenny asked how he saved the money and he said that he did lots of jobs for his family and they gave him little bits of pocket money. Every time he got any money he put it in a piggy bank. He was able to sell a tee- shirt to a friend who admired it. Tom didn’t like the tee-shirt much, but his friend said he loved it and he had been looking everywhere for one like it. Tom had agreed to sell it to him for £10.

Jenny realised that Tom had managed to save the money for the bike by being very determined. He wasn’t tempted to spend his money on sweets or anything like that. All the money he was given he put towards the bike and then at last he had enough money to buy it.

Jenny was inspired by meeting Tom. She decided that she would save up for a really nice paint set.

When she got home she told Dad. He was impressed as he loved art himself. He told her she could try out his acrylic paints to see if she liked them and if she wanted to buy some for herself he said he would give her £3 to get her started.

Jenny tried his acrylics and painted a beautiful butterfly. Dad was impressed.

“You have a really good eye for colour.” He said.

Jenny was pleased. Dad gave her £3 and Mum added another £2. She said she could do some jobs around the house to earn more money.

It took a few weeks to earn enough money to buy a painting set. Dad took her into town and she found a great set for £40. She was very excited and couldn’t wait to get home to try out the set for herself. She used her imagination and painted a beautiful underwater scene with fish and shells. Mum was delighted.

“I had no idea that you were such a talented artist.” She said.

Jenny felt proud and happy. She told Hazel all about this next time she visited her. Hazel was very happy for her friend.

Recycle:

 Jenny offered Hazel a sip from the bottle of fruit juice she was drinking. Hazel accepted her friends offer and took a sip before handing the bottle back to Jenny. She noticed that when Jenny had finished drinking she threw the bottle on the ground. Hazel picked up the bottle and Jenny noticed.

“Oh, sorry I should have put in a bin.” Jenny apologised.

“Don’t worry Jenny. I will hang onto it until I find a bin where it can be recycled.” She went on to explain to Jenny how important it is to conserve Earth’s resources. She said that she was very happy that there are so many more recycling services now. She stopped to pick up another bottle that she found lying on the ground.

Jenny felt bad that she had thrown the bottle down and decided that from now on she would also pick up rubbish that she found lying on the ground in the countryside or on the beach. Not only will the places look better but the containers can be re-cycled, and this will help to conserve resources.

Feeling Happier:

After a few adventures with Hazel, Jenny started to really enjoy being outside. She realised that when she was outside she felt happy. She felt particularly happy when she was exploring the countryside. She realised that when she got home there was nothing to stop her from exploring the countryside close to where she lived.

Hazel also taught Jenny to keep herself safe. She always made sure that Jenny told her Mum how long she would be away, and she reminded her to be careful when crossing the roads.

Hazel taught Jenny so much. She taught her how enjoyable it is to really listen to others. You can learn so much from people when you really stop and listen to what they are saying. Jenny decided that instead of just saying whatever popped into her head when she was with people she would start to really listen to what they said to her before responding. Jenny was able to put this into practice at home with her family. She made a real effort to listen to her parents and her brother when they spoke to her and she found that the more she listened to them the happier they were to listen to her.

Meeting Hazel had really started to help Jenny to feel happier in so many ways.

Music was something that Hazel taught Jenny to enjoy.

One day Jenny accompanied her friend to the camping field. As they arrived Jenny could hear a guitar being played. As they entered the field Jenny could see that it was Suzie that was playing the guitar and singing with such a beautiful voice. Jenny really loved listening to her. She wasn’t usually all that interested in music, but listening to Suzie made her realise what she was missing. Back at home that evening, Jenny asked Mum if they could put the radio on instead of watching TV that evening. Mum agreed to this and the family had a lovely evening listening to the music on the radio.

Dream:

One afternoon when Jenny was visiting the camping field, Phoebe sat her down and stared to ask her all about herself. She asked her to tell her the story of her life so far and then to tell everyone her hopes and dreams for the future. Jenny felt awkward at first being asked to do this, but slowly she started to gain in confidence. After spending a while explaining her life to this point, she went on to say that in future she hoped to be more creative. She wanted to explore drawing and painting further. She wanted to learn how to cook and maybe even learn how to play a musical instrument.

Phoebe was happy to hear this. She told Jenny that it is important that we feel able to talk about ourselves and to have dreams for the future.

Meeting Hazel and her unusual family made Jenny more comfortable with the idea of meeting new people from different backgrounds. She was starting to realise that there are all sorts of different people in the world and getting to know people who have different ideas and beliefs from you can be a very enjoyable experience.

Diaries:

Jenny started to write in her diary. She wrote down notes on the things that she learnt from Hazel and her family.

Diet was something Jenny wasn’t really interested in to start with. Her Mum cooked a lot of quick and easy meals and she ate pretty much anything that was put on the table in front of her. It wasn’t until Jenny had eaten some of Phoebe’s delicious meals that she started to realise how nice home cooked food made from scratch is. She decided when she got back from the holiday that she was going to start cooking meals using some of Mum’s recipe books. The first part of Jenny’s diary included some recipes to make healthy, simple food. She enjoyed making the recipes and her family were impressed at her efforts. As she got better at cooking she got more and more interested in it. She even entered a school cookery competition where she made a vegetable stew served in a crusty roll scooped out to make an edible bowl. Her teachers loved the stew and awarded her First Prize.

The next page in her diary talked about the benefits of relaxation. Relaxation is very important. Jenny’s Mum realised this when she booked the holiday for her family. The family had been working hard and getting very stressed so going away for a few days was a good idea. There are other ways to relax. Some people find spending time outside relaxes them. Some people find sport is relaxing to them. Some people find drawing and painting relaxing. Even taking time to breath deeply can relax us. Jenny likes painting and drawing and finds that relaxing.

Goals vary from person to person. Jenny wrote that a goal is something that we decide we would like to achieve. We may decide we want to save up for something special like a holiday or an expensive computer game. A goal may be something that we want to learn how to do. It might be that we want to learn to speak French, for example. Once we know what our goal is we can work out the steps that we will need to take to achieve that goal. With the example of Jenny’s art set, she needed to know how much it costed and where it could be purchased from. Jenny chose to put her pocket money towards the set as well as carry out jobs for her family to raise some extra cash. If you have a goal and you write it down, you are more likely to achieve it. Working out the steps to success also helps. Jenny found writing down her goals and then following the steps to success helped her to achieve her goals.

Jenny discovered that Mindfulness is an important skill to have. Hazel explained that Mindfulness is where you fully concentrate on what is happening now instead of worrying about the past or future. Hazel is very good at being mindful. She uses her senses fully, taking in everything she can see and hear around her. Hazel was able to teach Jenny to be more mindful. This helped her to worry less and to feel happier. Colouring is a good activity to help you be more mindful. Jenny discovered this when Mum brought a colouring book home for Jenny to use. Jenny enjoyed choosing beautiful coloured pens from her art set to carefully colour in the pictures. She found this very relaxing.

Another thing that Jenny learnt from Hazel is that older people are very important. They have lived a long time so that have learnt a lot about life. If we listen to older people we can learn a lot from them. Jenny really enjoyed meeting Elanor. She learnt a lot from her and this made her decide to listen more carefully to the older people back at home. She made a note of this in her diary.

Jenny discovered that we all see things from different perspectives. This is because we all have different life experiences. Our families may have different political beliefs, some may be religious, and some may not be. If we can learn to respect each other’s opinions our lives become much richer and happier. When we see things one way and our friend sees things another way, we can learn a lot if we make an effort to try and see things from our friend’s point of view. We may not completely agree with them but trying to understand how they may be feeling can really help. Jenny tried to write down her feelings when she had a family argument. She also tried to see things from the other person’s point of view. She found that this helped her get on better with everyone.

Since meeting Hazel, Jenny was starting to feel a lot happier and more confident. She enjoyed baking and painting and exploring outdoors. She felt happier she became less stressed at home and at school. She still found it difficult to get on with people sometimes but now that she was starting to see things from other peoples’ perspective she found she was getting on much better with them.  She was also much more willing to compromise.

Compromising is an important skill to have. We may want to do one thing and our friend may want to do something else. Jenny likes playing Monopoly but her brother prefers Scrabble. We end up arguing a lot if we are not willing to compromise. A compromise is when both people are willing to change their mind a little bit so that they are able to do something they both are happy with. Jenny and Sam often compromise by playing cards instead of Monopoly or Scrabble now as they both enjoy cards. Jenny is able to write about this in her diary.

She wrote down everything she learnt in her diary. It was very useful to do this, so she could look back over what she learnt and this helped her to remember her new skills.

Bullying is something Jenny also wrote about. She realised that sometimes people can be deliberately unkind to others. This can be very upsetting. Jenny worked out that there are lots of different reasons that people bully. Sometimes bullies have been bullied themselves and they can then take out their anger on others. Jenny thought about ways victims of bullying can help themselves. Talking to other people can help. Letting teachers and parents know what is going on is a good thing to do. Jenny also wrote down some ideas on what to do if your friend is being bullied. She wrote that sometimes being nice to someone who is being picked on can help. Encouraging them to ask for help can be a good idea or reporting your concerns to an adult can be a very helpful thing to do.

Jenny also learnt about the importance of asking for help when you need it.

When you have worries it is important to know when to ask for help. If we have a problem, sometimes we can solve it on our own but sometimes the problem does not go away whatever we try to do. It is at these times that it is important that we know who we can go to for help. Sometimes a friend can be a good person to talk to and at other times our family or a school adult can help. Sometimes we need to ask for help from emergency services such as the police or the ambulance service. Knowing who to turn to for help when we need it is an important skill to have.

Jenny wrote that Fundraising is something that she can do that helps her to feel happier. She heard about a cake sale being held at the school. Any money made was being sent to a charity. Jenny decided to make some cakes to sell. She used her pocket money to buy the ingredients and then she made some beautiful cakes. She took the cakes into school and they were sold in the sale. Jenny felt very good about this and decided to write about it in her diary.

Volunteering is also something that can make you feel good. Offering to help people with things can really make their day. When you are helping someone else you aren’t usually thinking about your own worries. Jenny decided to become a playground buddy at her school. She had some training and then she was asked to look after the younger children at play time on a Tuesday and Thursday playtime. She really enjoyed doing this and it built up her confidence. She made friends with some of the other playground buddies too. This made her feel a lot happier about being in school.

As Jenny got happier, her family became more relaxed and they all started to enjoy doing more things together. Boot Fairs are great places to visit to pick up a bargain. Jenny went with her Dad to a local boot fair early one Sunday morning. She found a lovely recipe book that was very cheap to buy. Her Dad bought it for her as a reward for doing well in school. Jenny wrote in her diary about boot-fairs, explaining why she thought they were good fun:

‘The good thing about boot fairs is that the whole family can enjoy a day out. You can buy things to eat and drink as well as pick up some bargains on the stalls. You can even bring your own car and sell the things you no longer want and raise some extra money to buy things that you do want.’

Some people prefer attending Jumble Sales or they like to buy something from a Charity Shop. The great thing about buying something Second Hand is that it is cheap to buy and instead of being thrown away when someone no longer needs it, the item can go to a good home where someone will appreciate it. This is a great way of recycling.

Positive Affirmations are something that Hazel taught Jenny to do. An affirmation is something good that you can say about yourself. If you say it a lot, it can help you to feel happier and more confident. An example of an affirmation could be, ‘Everything is happening exactly as it should.’ Another good one is, ‘My best is good enough’

When we say positive things like this to ourselves, it can help us to feel calmer and happier.

Hazel spoke to Jenny about finding ways to cool down when she got angry. When we feel angry it can be very hard to think. Jenny gets angry quite often and she finds it hard to calm herself down. Hazel asked Jenny to imagine anger is like a whirl pool or even a black hole, sucking you in. If you realise that you are getting sucked in, you can step away from the whirl pool or the black hole. We have a choice about how angry we become when something triggers us. Once we realise that something has upset us, we can choose to give in to anger or we can find ways to cool or calm down. Jenny finds being outside helps to calm her down but if she can’t go outside she finds standing or sitting by an open window can help to cool her down. If she can’t open a window at school, she can ask to go for a drink of water and she can slowly walk to the water fountain and then drink some cold water slowly. This can help to calm her down.

Brothers and sisters know us so well. We can get on with them or we can fall out with them. Sometimes we find them helpful and sometimes we find them annoying. Jenny realises that her brother is usually kind to her. Sometimes he gets fed up with her hanging around with him when he is with his friends. Jenny has learnt to listen to what her brother is saying to her. Thanks to Hazel, Jenny is starting to appreciate what her brother does for her more. It can be easy to take brothers and sisters for granted especially if they are older and have always been there.

When you grow up you realise that the only people who really know what your childhood was like are your family. Whatever you go through, the chances are your brother or sister have been through a similar experience. Because they are so close to us our brothers and sisters can seem very annoying sometimes. We get tired of their habits and sometimes their behaviour can be embarrassing to us. If we try to be fair to our brothers and sisters and learn to forgive them when they do things that upset us, they are usually more willing to be fair to us and to forgive us when we get things wrong too. Try treating your brothers and sisters as you would a good friend and see how this helps your relationship with them to improve.

Friendship:

Starting a new school can be scary. Jenny found it hard when she started at her school as she didn’t know anyone and she finds it hard to make friends. She told Hazel that she didn’t really think she had made many friends even though she had been at the school for quite a long time now. Jenny explained that she didn’t really know how to make friends. Hazel told Jenny that she was a good friend to her. She gave Jenny some good advice. She told Jenny that the pupils at her school would be more likely to show interest in Jenny if Jenny started to show more interest in them. She asked Jenny who seemed friendliest in her class. Jenny said that Annie and James were quite friendly children. Hazel challenged Jenny to give them both a compliment.

A compliment is when you say something nice about someone else. Hazel gave Jenny a compliment. She told her that she was really good at art. Jenny was pleased, she smiled at her friend.

Jenny gave Hazel a compliment.

“You are a very kind person.” She said.

Jenny decided to try giving James and Annie compliments when she was back at school. She told Annie she was good at hockey. This was true. Annie was an excellent hockey player. She told James that he was great at writing. This was also true. James had some poetry published in a book.

Both pupils liked receiving compliments from Jenny. Jenny also started showing more interest in what they were doing and James and Annie started to involve Jenny in their games.

Independence is a very important thing. When we are children we need lots of help but as we get older we like to learn how to do things for ourselves, as much as possible. Jenny was quite scared of being independent and so spent a lot of time following her brother around. He didn’t mind too much but really Jenny did crave having the confidence to find friends of her own.

Meeting Hazel and her family gave Jenny the confidence that she needed to try and do more things for herself. She learnt to cook and started enjoying going out to meet friends.

Jenny wrote in her diary. She explained that now that she was feeling more confident, she enjoyed being more independent. She liked meeting friends and doing things by herself. She knew her parents and her brother were there to support her if things got difficult, but she really started to enjoy trying to do more things for herself.

Animals can teach us a lot. At first, Jenny was afraid of Hazel’s dogs but once she got to know them she discovered they had their own individual personalities and were very friendly. She started to learn more about the animals she saw around her. She admired the loyalty of dogs and the independence of cats, for example. Jenny realised that animals just seem to get on with life. They don’t worry about things that happened in the past or things that might happen in the future. Jenny decided that she would try to be a bit more like animals and enjoy each day as it came.

Hazel also taught Jenny to help look after The Environment by picking up litter and recycling things. Jenny learnt about the amount of plastic that has been dropped by people and how it is polluting our oceans. She was shocked to hear this. Jenny decided to start picking up empty bottles when she found them on the beach. Jenny realised there are lot of little things that we can do to help keep our Environment clean and healthy. Since meeting Hazel Jenny learnt to appreciate being out in the countryside. She enjoyed walking and being out in Nature.

One thing that stopped Jenny from trying things was the fear of getting things wrong. Jenny was so worried that she would fail at things that this put her off even trying. Hazel was able to encourage Jenny to take more risks and try new things. Jenny realised that as long as you try your best, it doesn’t matter if you don’t get things right straight away. Some things take practise and if you keep trying you can improve.

Every day Jenny got up and wrote in her diary. She wrote down all the things she learnt from Hazel and the people she introduced her to.

She was so glad that she met her. She could hardly wait until her family went on their next holiday. She hadn’t seen much of Hazel recently as she had started to meet up with some friends from school.

A Long Weekend:

Jenny was delighted when Mum said they were off to the caravan for a Long Weekend.

She packed her things and jumped into the car. Soon the family were on their way.

They arrived at the caravan, unpacked their things and Jenny asked if she could go and explore in the woods. Mum looked surprised, but agreed, so off she went. She arrived at the clearing, sat down in the grass, enjoying the sun. Soon she started to feel sleepy.

A little later Jenny woke up. She yawned, stretched and looked round for her friend. There was no sign of her. Jenny decided to go to the camping field to look for her. She arrived at the field and there was no sign of the tents.

Jenny was shocked. She looked around for any sign of her friend, but she had no luck. Disappointed she walked back to the caravan. She went in and sat down.

Mum was reading a book and she looked up when Jenny came in.

“You’re back pretty soon.” She announced.

Mum was disappointed that Jenny hadn’t made a friend at the caravan site.

Mystery:

“You need to be more independent.” Mum announced.

Jenny thought that was a strange thing to say. She had become so much more independent lately.

Actually, the more Jenny thought about it, the stranger the day seemed.

Where was Hazel?

A little later, Dad and Sam were back and Sam put on the TV. The News came on. Jenny jumped. The New featured stories that had happened months ago, The News being reported on happened in The Summer Holidays in fact.

Jenny was confused.

She noticed a newspaper on the table. It must be an old one she reasoned, as it was dated the previous July.

Jenny started to feel very strange.

“Mum, what is the date?” Jenny asked anxiously.

“Its 29^th July.” Mum replied.

This made absolutely no sense.

By now Jenny was feeling very puzzled indeed.

She was starting to think the unthinkable, that she had gone back in time!

She started looking through her packing. She found her diary. She opened it and to her horror, the pages were blank.

She felt giddy and sick. She could hardly eat her dinner and asked to go to bed early.

She fell straight to sleep. As she slept, she started to dream….

She dreamt that she was sleeping in the clearing and that someone was shaking her awake. That someone was Hazel.

Jenny was delighted to see her friend again. She gave her a huge hug. Hazel sat with Jenny and spoke to her.

Hazel explained that in July, when Jenny had gone to the caravan and had found her way to the field she had fallen asleep. It was an enchanted sleep which allowed Hazel to communicate with her and for all their adventures to happen. The spell wore off once Jenny started to feel happier with her life. She no longer needed Hazel and her family any more.

Jenny was amazed. Did this mean the whole thing had been a dream? Surely not?

Hazel assured her that it had all been a dream, an enchanted dream that had taught her all the things she needed to know to enable her to live a much happier life. Hazel explained that she only existed in Jenny’s mind. Hazel’s family and friends only resided in the dream too.

This all took a lot of getting used to. Jenny felt sad that Hazel wasn’t real and sadder still when she realised that all the things that she thought she had done since meeting Hazel hadn’t really happened.

Hazel told Jenny not to be upset. She explained that now Jenny had the ability to live a happy life. She explained that the dream was not wasted, and that Jenny could live a happy life from now on.

Jenny smiled at this and when Hazel told her it was time for her to go, she gave her a great big hug and waved as she faded away.

When Jenny woke up from her dream she felt a mixture of sadness for the loss of her friend and happiness that she could remember everything so vividly. She leapt out of bed, grabbed her diary and started to write.

That is how this story came to be written.

Jenny spent a long time writing this book. She also started painting and cooking, just as she had in the dream. Many of the things that originally happened in the dream came true in real life. She won a cookery competition at school and made friends with James and Annie.

Everything worked out pretty well actually. Jenny was very happy with her new life and all the skills that she had learnt. One thing still puzzled her though,

If nothing that happened in her dream was real, where did the dairy come from?

That was one mystery that she was never able to solve but she enjoyed writing in it all the same.

The End.