Below is a first draft of a collaborative piece of class writing that Kauri have won $1,500 toward publishing professionally later this year. We hope you like it, please let us know if you think it needs any alterations!
It was spring in Puketi Forest. The sun shone down as the shadows danced to the birds tweeting their sweet songs under the emerald green canopy. The stream twisted and twirled like a beautiful ballerina.
However, this was all about to change. Construction developers had been granted consent to build a huge landfill site on the edge of the forest!
The ink had hardly dried on the contract before the diggers started rolling in.
They dug, and dug, and dug…
Until there were no trees to be seen, and only a huge hole to drop the local residents’ rubbish in.
Unknown to the developers, they had just woken the Hakuturi! The ancient guardians of the forest had been awoken from a thousand year hibernation and they were not happy!
Their treetop homes had been destroyed so they wanted to get even with those nasty developers.
The first to be awoken was Tanu, he was a shy Hakuturi sprite with a special talent for hiding. Waking from his hibernation in his tiny twig cabin, he heard trees falling down and loud roaring. He went outside to see what was happening, Once he looked to the treetops he could see giant mechanical monsters pushing over his massive Kauri trees.
As Tanu hid, he watched his tree fall down, and wondered, “Who could be responsible for this?”
That night, after the developers had gone home, Tanu, had a mischievous idea. He decided to hide the diggers!
He used his magical powers to bury the diggers in the huge pit. He then used his sprite talents to fill in the hole with earth.
When the developers came back to work the next morning they could not understand what had happened to their machinery, and how the huge hole had been filled in. They scratched their heads and disappeared…
but not for long.
Mihini was a bossy Hakuturi sprite, this time with a special talent for mechanics. Waking from her hibernation in her tiny twig cabin, she heard the trees falling down and the loud roaring as well.
She went outside to see what was happening, once she looked to the treetops she could see new giant mechanical monsters pushing over her massive Kauri trees.
As Mihini hid, she watched her tree fall down and also wondered, “Who could be responsible for this?”
That night, after the developers had gone home, Mihini, had a mischievous idea of her own!
She instructed Tanu to remove all the bolts, screws and rivets from the diggers and hide them!
When the developers came back to work the next morning they could not understand what had happened to their machinery. They all fell apart in a big heap as soon as they started. They scratched their heads and disappeared once more…
but not for long.
Makari was a thoughtful Hakuturi sprite, this time with a special talent for recycling. Waking from his hibernation in his tiny twig cabin, he heard the trees falling down and the loud roaring as well.
He went outside to see what was happening. As he looked to the treetops he could see new giant mechanical monsters pushing over his massive Kauri trees.
As Makari hid, he watched his tree fall down and also wondered, “Who could be responsible for this?”
That night, after the developers had gone home, Makari had a mischievous idea of his own!
He used his magical powers to recycle all of the metal into new roofs, so that his friends could have shelter again!
When the developers came back to work the next morning they could not understand what had happened to their machinery this time. It was nowhere to be seen. They scratched their heads and disappeared once more…
but not for long.
Holomui was a funny Hakuturi sprite, this time with a special talent for shrinking objects. Waking from her hibernation in her tiny twig cabin, she heard the trees falling down and the loud roaring as well.
She went outside to see what was happening. As she looked to the treetops she could see new giant mechanical monsters pushing over her massive Kauri trees.
As Holomui hid, she watched her tree fall down and also wondered, “Who could be responsible for this?”
That night, after the developers had gone home, Holomui had a mischievous idea of her own!
She used her magical powers to shrink all of the new diggers into miniature models!
When the developers came back to work the next morning they could not understand what had happened to their machinery this time. It was so funny to see the developers scratch their heads once more.
This was the last straw for the developers, they decided that they had no more diggers left to waste. All of workers said they would never set foot in that mysterious forest again!
From that day forward it was decided to make Puketi Forest a protected place, safe from developers for ever!
The Hakuturi legacy lives on to this day as there are new guardians of the forest…
you.
