Various Endings to "The Man and the Apple Tree"

Assalaamu'alaikum. Hi wonderful people; all educators, teachers, storytellers, and parents. This post is dedicated to giving you a day-to-day activity to have fun with a reading or literacy class/activity.

So, aside from having normal reading passages and answering the comprehension questions, then discussing the answers together as a class, once, I asked my students to add an ending to a story as they wished. 

This activity is fun to do with a short fiction. They were free to decide how the story ends and what happens to the characters. It was meant to allow students to enhance their creativity and confidence. I wanted them not to be afraid of having different endings. I wanted them to believe that it's absolutely ok to be different. I also wanted them to think freely and therefore understand that it's totally ok to go crazy sometimes. All in all, I wanted them to break the normal boundaries of what a good story reads. 

That time, we read The Man and the Apple Tree. They were free to end the story based on their imagination. However, as you might have guessed, my students are all typically Indonesians. They, and many other Indonesians like me, like to hear a happy ending to any story. No wonder, they needed to be pushed to break their limits. Even so, they didn't really dare to beat the odds. 

Eastern culture that we value, in this case, stops them from being genuine story writers. No wonder the ends of the story, do not vary much. Even one with the wildest thought as we think only ended up with the murder of the main character. It has been different from the rest of them who ended up writing happy endings. However, still, they did a fantastic job, anyway. 

Here are the endings of the story as written by my grade 4 students. Grammar and sentence structure have been edited by me. Please enjoy. 

Kia (4 Ali)

The apple tree was happy because the boy returned and rested under the tree. The boy felt sorry because he only came if he wanted something. The apple tree then said that it was OK. Due to that, the boy became happy and the tree forgave him. 

Audrey (4 Ali)

After the old man rested under the old tree, he told the tree he was happy to be with him.

Fida (4 Ali)

When the boy rested on the roots, the tree and he lived happily ever after. 

The moral of the story is to pretend that the tree is your parents, as they always take care of you. You might see that the boy is rude, but this is what you do to your parents.

Early (4 Ali)

After that, the boy said, "I need to go to the hospital." "Why?" The tree replied. The boy said, "I'm sick." However, the tree no longer had anything. A young tree came alive and gave the boy things to go to the hospital.

Arfa (4Ali)

Suddenly the apple tree became happy because they had not yet met for so long. The boy did not come to the apple tree. After that, the boy apologized for taking everything from the apple tree. 

Katiya (4 Ali)

The boy said, "I have asked you some things. What do you want in return?" The old tree replied, "Nothing at all. I did that because I loved you just like my son." The boy smiled and slept. The next morning, he woke up and it turned out that the tree had died. Then he saw a seed. Then he planted it.

Chaca (4 Ali)

When the boy was sitting on the tree, he ate an apple and slept. The tree said, "You can sleep here with me every night."

Vicka (4 Ali)

The man said, "I'm sorry for using you." The tree replied, "It's OK." The man promised the tree, "Now I will try to grow you." The man smiled. As he grew the tree over weeks, he was getting older. The man looked at the tree. It was happy and healthy. The tree was waiting for the man. The tree said, "Thank you for giving me such good care." Then the man was gone. 

No Name (4 Ali)

After the old boy sat on the tree, it was dying. Then they died together. 

Keisya (4 Ali)

After the boy rested on the tree, he took some food and drank. They enjoyed it together and were happy at the end.

No Name (4 Ali)

The old boy was sad because the tree only had branches and wood. Then the boy was helping the apple tree to become beautiful again. The boy watered the tree and rested there. Years later, when the boy came back to water it, he was surprised. The tree had become beautiful again. The leaves were green, the apples were red, and they looked fresh! The apple tree and the boy became happy again!

Kimmy (4 Ali)

Then the boy was sad and disappointed in himself because the tree had died. He had the tree for years and could not rest on its root again.

Daffa (4Ali)

Then the old boy looked at the tree and just left. He thought that he wanted to give the tree some water and always stayed with the tree and the old boy kept doing it until the tree became beautiful again. Then the old boy died because he was very old.

Atqa (4 Ali)

After the man rested on the tree, he woke up then he found a group of murderers. They tried to murder the man because they were hired by his wife. She wanted to kill him because he had 6 billion dollars. When they murdered the man they put him in jail then he died.

Ibrafa (4 Ali)

The old man rested on the roots for so long. The tree finally died. He was sad. So he buried the roots in his backyard. 

The moral of the story is do not kill a tree.

Adelle (4 Ali)

After the man rested on the roots of the apple tree, he helped the tree grow again. Then he moved with his family to live near the tree.

Alesha (4 Ali)

After the man rested on the tree roots, the man said sorry that he always left it and if he came back, he always wanted something from it. "It's okay now that we can rest together," said the tree.

Qaireen (4 Ali)

Then, the tree didn't have anything. The boy was sad. And the boy took a leaf from his house and went to the tree. The tree became happy and bright as sunshine.

Gwen (4 Ali)

After the boy took a rest, he and the tree smoked/vaped together. Then they got sick and died. In the end, they became happy in heaven and hell.

Iyasa (4 Ali)

And the boy was sad because the apple tree died. Then the old boy was lonely because the apple tree died. Then the boy bought a new tree.

Audrey (4 Ali)

The boy grew older and he sat (rested) on the old tree. The boy grabbed some apples from the tree and ate them. He then built a wooden boat from the trunks. He also cut the tree to make some furniture.

Esa (4 Ali)

One day the boy said because the apple tree died. The apple tree died because it was lonely. Then the boy bought another seedling to grow.

4 Umar bin Khattab

No Name 1

So the child invited the tree and then he became sad because the tree did not invite him in return. Then he went away with his family.

Nuna

Even though the boy was old he wanted to play. "Hey, tree!" "What?" said the tree. "Want to play?" "Yes!" They played until night. "I need to go," said the boy. "Okay, bye." And the boy went home. But this time the tree was not sad because they had played together.

Kayla

They became friends and every day the boy always visited the tree and took a rest together. But one day the boy came again but the tree was gone. So he was really sad and ended up never coming back again until he died.

Sovhia

And the boy went away again. The next day the boy wanted to buy a new pair of shoes, but he didn't have any money. The boy went to the tree and the tree said that he could sell its wood. Then the boy cut off the wood and sold it. After that, the tree became old and died. The boy was so sad.

Varel

Because the apple tree was already very old, it became drier. So, in a little time, the tree would be disappeared. This, the boy felt really sad. He regretted what he had done earlier. If only he always played with the tree, it wouldn't get old really fast.

Zivanna

Though the tree already didn't have anything to give the boy, the tree always remembered him. The sun became so hot that the tree couldn't live for a long time because the boy never took care of it. Even when the trees were very dry the tree still remembered the boy. Even though the boy doesn't remember the tree.

Bia

After the boy took a nap on the old tree's roots, he went up and brought his family members and introduced them to the tree. Every they started hanging out again. And one day when the boy was taking a nap there he breathed his last air with the tree. They died together.

No Name 2

Then after the boy was awake, the boy didn't come back. The tree was sad. Then the boy came back again. Then the boy said, "I'm getting older." The tree replied, "Me, too." Then the boy died at the place. The tree cried.

Reina

After the boy rested on the tree's roots, he was very happy as he finally got a place to rest and calm. Then he fell asleep on the tree's roots and had a very good dream. Then the boy lived happily with the apple tree.

Pipi

The tree looked at the boy and he said, "Want to play with me?" Said the tree, "I cannot, because I have to rest". Then the boy played with her friends. And he didn't want to play again because he got sick and he didn't want to play again.

Gynda

Once upon a time, there was an apple tree. The tree had a friend, the little boy. The boy always played with the tree.

Rania

One day one little boy was playing around the tree but now the boy was not playing again because he wanted to play with toys. Then the boy was sad and the tree gave him toys but the tree didn't have money.

Declan

The tree was sad because it didn't have apples and the boy no longer played with it. However, one day, the boy was back to play with the tree again. The tree was excited because he was back, and finally they played together every day.

Kehan

And he rested on the roots and his kid was coming. Then his kid was playing in the playground and he died and the tree was sad.

Naomi

After the boy was sitting on the tree, one day it got sick and when the boy knew it, he was really shocked. So the boy went back to the tree and said, "Are you OK?" When the tree saw him, it died.

Mecca

And the next step of the story the boy was already old. And in the middle of him sleeping on it, there was a big snake on the tree. The apple tree was shocked and gave his soul. And when the old boy already woke up, he was shocked and cried for a long time.

Al

The boy rested with the tree. The boy said, "I will make a house here with bricks." And the tree replied, "Oh, it will be good." However, the tree did not know something before the boy. One day the boy made a house and he had a child and a wife. One day his child said, "I want that apple." And the boy said, "OK". And the boy picked up so many apples and the boy burned the tree. And one day the boy died.

Ayya

Before the tree died, it said, "You can leave me alone." "Why?" The boy replied. "Because you always leave me when you don't need me, and also I almost died because you took all I had in my life." Said the tree. Then the tree died before the boy asked.

Alea

After that the boy took the roots. Then, the tree was cut by someone. And the boy was getting older. He only could say, "Don't go!" The boy said, "Please, don't go! If you go, where can I rest or live?"

Janitra

So, after a long time, the boy left. He was old but he visited the tree one last time and when he arrived, the tree had no leaves and it was old and dry. The boy smiled with happy tears and said "I will always remember you..." And the tree replied in a weak voice, "Thank you." The tree died and the man said, "Goodbye."

Aston

After that, the boy was just dreaming because he thought, "Who can talk to a tree?" Then the boy started to go to school. But after that, the boy got hit by a truck and he died. It was all planned by the tree. It was happy and the parents of the boy were also killed by the tree by shipping.

Aira

And the next, the boy invited the tree to a big party. When the tree was going to the party, there was no one there until a big man came. The big man decided to kill the tree with a big knife. The tree almost got killed, but the boy saved it from the big man.

Kinan

After that, the tree grew apples again because the boy took care of it. He always grew the tree very well. The tree was happy because he had the apples again. However, the boy didn't come back for 2 weeks. Then the tree became old. The boy became old, too. One day, the boy came back and was shocked to see the tree died. The little one became very sad... It was because the tree always helped him.

Edith

After that, they hugged his grandmother. They all played in the playground but grandmother couldn't play because they wanted her to go home. After that, the boys went home and saw grandmother being sad because she was old. Then the boys hugged their grandmother and they said, "Grandma, I love you, I like you, and thank you for helping me, and thank you for taking care of me, too."

Fathan

The boy wanted to grab another thing from the tree. "Why do you always need anything from me?" The tree said. The boy was sad and did not return until 5 years later. The boy and the tree died.