Once upon a time there was a little gnome and he was called Mr Red. His favourite colour was red. His hat was red as well, and he never took it off. He lived with a beautiful chestnut horse called Chestnut, of course. They went on long rides together, but their favourite spot to rest and have a picnic was at the top of Sun Rising hill in Tysoe.
One day they were riding on the hill, when all of a sudden, poor Chestnut fell to the ground with a loud thud! Mr Red fllew through the air and landed on his hat that cracked and broke. Mr Red was very sad to lose his hat. He felt even sadder to lose Chestnut, who had walked and walked until she fell down exhausted, and died.
Two hours later, after sobbing on the hillside, Mr Red walked back to his house alone and looked at old photos of him and Chestnut and their wonderful adventures together. The next day he went back to the hillside with a spade and started to dig a grave for his friend. In memory of Chestnut, he carved a big silhouette of a horse out of the earth for Chestnut to see when she looked down from Heaven.
The angels saw how sad the little gnome was and took pity on him. They flew down and asked if he would like to see Chestnut one more time? Mr Red was so surprised to see the angels he was speechless. But when he found his voice again, he said: “Yes please!” In a few seconds he found himself in Heaven, in a grassy fiield fiilled with trees and sunlight. He looked around for Chestnut and quickly found her under a tree, eating the apples off the branches. He gave Chestnut a big hug, closed his eyes and told her, “I will love you for the rest of my life”, Chestnut whispered, “and I will wait for you”.
When Mr Red opened his eyes, he found he was back on Earth. Every day Mr Red visited Chestnut’s carved silhouette and promised he would see her again one day. Many years later Mr Red sadly died sitting on his favourite spot on the hill. It was his 81st birthday. The angels came down once more to collect him. Mr Red said: “Please take me to my faithful old friend Chestnut”. And that is what they did and they lived happily ever after.