There was once a small town. It was ruled by an evil king. The king liked gardens, so he likes flowers and trees a lot.

One day he heard that tourists were going to visit their small town. He wanted the town to look beautiful, so he demanded that every family had to have a tree in their backyard.

A poor family that lived in the town realized that they couldn't afford to get a tree. They tried brainstorming ideas to trick the evil king. But they couldn't think of anything that seemed possible.

One day the poor family's nice neighbor knocked on the door. The father of the poor family opened the door, and let the nice neighbor inside. "I couldn't help overhearing about your problem, I think I can help you," the neighbor said.

The neighbor told the father to fetch a ladder. Then the neighbor led the family outside to their small backyard.

"Okay now, the two grandparents stand on the ground by the foot of the ladder," instructed the neighbor.

"Okay, good. Now the father and mother should stand on the first step of the ladder," the neighbor said.

"Now, all you children go up the ladder. The older you are the further down you go!" the neighbor demanded.

Finally the four year old was set at the very top of the ladder.

The neighbor ran inside his own house and brought out some green paper. He cut the paper up and taped the pieces of paper onto the arms of the family.

"If you can hold still for a few minutes; that would be great!" the neighbor said. The family agreed, but they were worried, because they didn't have a tree in their backyard.

Finally the king trudged around the tiny house and gasped at what he saw.

"Well, well, well. You don't have one single tree in your yard! I must take the father to jail!" The king grunted.

Suddenly the nice neighbor popped up from behind a bush and stood up in front of the king. "Well, you don't have to take anyone anywhere, 'cause these people DO have a tree in their backyard," the neighbor protested.

The king yelled, "What is this, a joke? This is preposterous! "The neighbor chuckled and said, "Well don't you see the FAMILY TREE right there?"

The End