Page 17 - New Medley 5 Semester 1

One morning when the sun came out, Grandfather came into the garden.

“Let some warmth get into my bones,” he said. He stopped in front of
the cherry tree, stared at it for a few moments, and then called out,

“Rakesh! Come and look! Come quickly before it falls!”

Rakesh and Grandfather gazed at

the tree as though it had performed
a miracle. There was a pale pink

blossom at the end of a branch.

The following year there were

more blossoms. And suddenly,
the tree was taller than Rakesh,

even though it was less than half
his age. Then it was taller than

Grandfather, who was older than
some of the oak trees.

But Rakesh had grown too. He
could run and jump and climb

trees as well as most boys, and he
read a lot of books—although he

still liked listening to Grandfather’s
tales.

In the cherry tree, bees came to feed on the nectar in the blossoms, and
tiny birds pecked at the blossoms and broke them off. But the tree kept
blossoming right through the spring,

and there were always more blossoms blossom a flower or a mass of flowers,

than birds. especially on a fruit tree in spring

That summer there were small cherries pecked to eat or bite something with
the beak
on the tree. Rakesh tasted one and spat spat out forced out something from

it out. the mouth

“It’s too sour,” he said.

“They’ll be better next year,” said Grandfather.

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