There was once a forest heavy with red oaks so magnificent that they touched the clouds. One day a traveler came to walk through and as he did, he tripped over one of the roots along the forest floor. As he fell, his bag became loose and a very special jar of his flew out and smashed upon the ground. In it were seeds that he had collected through his many travels. He spent hours searching for the seeds that had scattered and by the time he decided to move on, he had found all but one. There was a light spring shower that night. A few weeks passed and a little green stem poked out of the dirt. Looking out across the world for the first time, the stem was amazed with the trees all around him. Every single tree grew into the clouds, hiding the tops behind blankets of white. It thought to itself, so this is what I am to become. Day after day, it reached into the suns brilliance eager to grow and by the end of every day its stem was a little bit taller and the roots were a little bit longer. Within the first week its first leaf had sprouted out. A few weeks passed and it was covered thick with tiny spiny leaves draping the many other stems poking out from the sides. Quickly it realized that it looked nothing like the other trees. It stood as wide as it was high, covered top to bottom with little spiny leaves. The red oaks grew thin and tall with branches that shot hand-like leaves out by their heads. Months went by and the once tiny stem grew into a dense prickly-tipped bush that pushed out more than up. It tried every day toaim its branches up, hoping that they would grow to match the red oaks. But the limbs were longer than they were strong. There were too many leaves hanging along its thin arms for it to lift higher than a couple inches off the ground. Before long it realized that it would never reach the clouds as the red oaks do. The bush became very jealous and sad at the differences between them and eventually gave up trying to change what it was and kept to itself. Then one day a very scared rabbit came running through the forest. She went from tree to tree hoping to find a branch low enough to climb. But no such luck. She tried digging out a hole under one the enormous roots but the weight of the trees had packed the soil too tight for the little rabbit's paws to loosen and dig out. Nervous with no options, the rabbit began running frantically through the woods and that is when she saw the bush awkwardly placed all by itself. Curious, the bush asked why she was so scared. The rabbit told the bush that there was a wild fox that had seen her and she knew if she was caught that he would gobble her up. The bush said, “I will protect you.” I will lift my branches so that you can come in and hide behind my sharp leaves and the fox will not get you. The rabbit said thank you and very carefully crawled under the branches until she was in a place where she felt safe and comfortable. Some time passed and the wild fox came by with its nose to the ground. He circled around the trees the rabbit had hopped around while looking for low branches. He creptover to the root where the rabbit had tried to dig a hole. And finally he too came to the bush. He tried to get into the bush to look for the rabbit and was pricked again and again on his face and paws. In pain, the fox retreated back and nursed his wounds. As the sun slowly migrated across the sky, the fox waited for the rabbit to come out of hiding. After a while the sun sank behind the hills and the moon began its journey. Growing more and more tired with every passing moment, the fox decided to give up and go home. Morning came and the bush woke the rabbit and told her the fox had left and that she would be safe now to leave. It lifted its branches and made a clearing for the rabbit to exit. As she did she asked the bush what its name was so that she could thank it and they could be friends. The bush replied, “I don't have a name. No one has ever given one to me.” The rabbit thought to herself for a second and then said, “Well! I guess I will have to give you one then. I will name you Nori.” And with that the rabbit thanked the bush and hopped along her way. From that day on the bush didn't envy the red oaks and their magnificence for it was special in its own way. And it wouldn't change a thing, especially its name.

The End