The Whispering Tree

It is storytelling and reading time friends.

Once upon a time, in a tiny village named Akuma, located in the northern part of Nigeria. In the village, there is an old tree that everyone calls the whispering tree. The branches of the tree stretched wide, and whenever the wind blew, the tree sounded as though it was speaking softly to anyone who listened.

Pius, a young boy who often sat under the tree after school hours, loved to listen to the soft speaking of the tree. Pius was shy, often mocked by his peer groups for dreaming too big. Pius always tells the tree about his wish to become an artist, to paint the skies and stories of his people.

On a very sad day for Pius, one of his classmates tore his sketchbook, so he left the school and sat down under the tree crying, and the wind rushed through the tree again. This time around, the whisper sounded so different from how it used to sound, and Pius heard a loud voice from the tree that said, "Boy, be strong and grow through what you go through".

Pius wiped his tears and stopped crying, and then picked up a piece of charcoal from the ground, and drew on the back of his torn pages. Every day, Pius returned to the tree, sketching his heart out. Years later, those sketches became his first art exhibition called; "The Whispering Tree".

Those who always mocked Pius now applauded him. Pius smiled happily not just for success, but for the voice that taught him to believe even when no one else is there for him.