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Praxis the pixie was in trouble again. In fact, Praxis was rarely out of trouble. It had all started when he'd begun to be himself. You see, Praxis changed colour when he felt strongly about anything, and so for quite a while he'd tried very hard to be good. But it hadn't worked, for instead of being just one colour, blue or yellow or green or pink or purple or red, he'd become a rainbow of blotches and spots, stripes and circles, all different colours. It had been very embarrassing. So now Praxis was just himself, and that meant he wasn't always good.

On this particular Autumn morning as he hurried to school with the other pixies, Praxis was a delicate shade of blue. He was feeling rather miserable, because the Pixie King had been very cross with all the pixie children. They'd all been late for school every day for a week, and sad to say, it had been mostly Praxis' fault. He simply couldn't resist paddling in the stream, or collecting fir cones or playing with the squirrels. Now the pixies were all hurrying to school along the path, instead of strolling through the woods, and Praxis didn't like it.

As he dragged his feet at the back of the little group, Praxis thought he heard a cry.

"Hey! Wait!" he called to the others. "I heard something."

But they all groaned, and the biggest pixie said, "Not now, Praxis! We've had enough of your tales. We must get to school on time today."

"But I did hear something," Praxis insisted. "A cry. I think someone may be in trouble."

One or two of the smaller pixies hesitated, but the big one gathered them all up and shooed them along. "Come on," he said. "I'm responsible for getting you to school on time. Forget Praxis and his silly tricks." And he called to Praxis, "You'll be in real trouble if you're late. Come on with us." But as he saw Praxis' colour change to a stubborn orange, he knew it was useless, so he turned and hurried the group on down the path.

Praxis set off into the woods. It had been a very faint cry, but he was sure he had herad something. He called out as he went. "Hey! Who are you? Do you want help? I'm coming."

After a few minutes he heard another tiny cry, followed by a whimper. He ran towards the noise. As he came into a clearing in the woods, he saw a baby squirrel caught by its tail in a crevice at the base of a large old oak tree. He gently and tenderly freed the squirrel - and then noticed all the acorns lying on the ground. He and the baby squirrel gathered up as many acorns as Praxis could carry. As everyone knows, all pixies wear acorn caps in the winter, but the nuts make marvellous pixie conkers. Praxis determined to hang them on silver fairy twine, and have great games with his friends.

Then he suddenly remembered the time, and where he ought to be. He shot off through the woods at top speed, and arrived at school out of breath. The teacher was cross and refused to listen to his story, but all the other pixies crowded round him at playtime and were delighted with his gifts of acorns.

But as he dawdled home after school, Praxis began to feel rather nervous. He knew the teacher would tell the Pixie King that he'd been late for school yet again, and he felt fearful of what might happen to him. He felt a little sick, and his colour changed to pale yellow.

Sure enough, as soon as he reached the pixie glade he was summoned before the Pixie King. His legs were trembling but he ran there as fast as he could. To his surprise, the king was smiling and looked really pleased to see Praxis.

"What's this I hear about you?" asked the king.

"I can explain," Praxis said hurriedly. "You see - "

"No need, Praxis," interrupted the king. "There's someone here to see you." And out from the shadows stepped a Mother Squirrel.

"That's him," she said. "That's the pixie who saved my baby's life. But for him, my baby might have died. I'm so grateful to you, Praxis."

Praxis turned bright pink with delight. He hadn't expected anyone to know about the baby squirrel. "So, you don't mind about me being late for school?" he asked.

The king laughed. "Of course not! School is very important, but people and animals are more important than keeping the rules. You were the only pixie who realised that. I'm proud of you Praxis."

And Praxis went on his way so happy that he stayed bright, shocking pink for three whole days.