The Tickle Tree. Francois Keyser

      A young family moved into their new home

      They had a daughter they called Kayleigh

      She liked the house and loved the gnome

      At the bottom of the garden under the tree.

      The gnome was just a statue and couldn’t really speak

      But Kayleigh pretended it could and called it No-Me

      Sometimes Kayleigh thought its face had moved a tweak

      But believed it was really the shadow of the tree.

      Now Kayleigh was in a wheelchair because she couldn’t walk

      But she did her best to be happy despite her difficulty

      At school she couldn’t find friends with whom to laugh or talk

      Because she was new and they could not accept her disability

      When Kayleigh was tucked up tight in bed at night

      She often thought she heard a laugh – or a giggle

      But peering outside after turning off the light

      There was nothing that moved or made a wiggle

      And on days after she heard a laugh or giggle the night before