Elara loved exploring the warm, sunny parts of her island home. Her best friend, Pip, a swift little creature, zipped right beside her. Every day was an adventure, but today, Elara wanted to find something truly new.

"Look, Pip!" whispered Elara, stopping suddenly. Taller than any flower and wider than any bush was a tree shaped like a giant, green umbrella. Its branches reached out high into the sky, sheltering everything below.

Elara carefully circled the great trunk. The bark was rough, like old leather. As they walked around, she noticed a tiny, fresh scratch, right where a sharp rock had tumbled down and scraped the wood.

Slowly, drop by drop, a bright, shocking red liquid began to ooze from the scratch. It looked thick and shiny, like dark cherry juice. "Oh dear!" gasped Elara. "Is that... dragon blood?"

Pip tilted his head. He sniffed the air cautiously, wondering if a tired dragon might be hiding under the big umbrella branches, needing a bandage. Elara frowned, imagining sharp scales and big wings.

But the air smelled only of warm earth and sweet leaves. Elara reached out one finger and touched the dark red drop. It felt sticky and cool, like syrup, not hot like a dragon's breath.

"It's not scary blood, Pip," she giggled, wiping her finger clean. "It's the special sap of this tree! It helps the tree heal, just like a bandage covers a scraped knee."

This was a special kind of tree, the island people knew. When the sap hardened, it became a wonderful red paint for drawing maps, and a powerful medicine for little scrapes and bumps.

Elara traced the outline of the huge, wide branches onto her rock, making a tiny picture of the big tree. This magnificent tree stood strong and tall, protecting itself with its beautiful, crimson 'dragon blood.'

Now, whenever Elara saw the strange umbrella tree, she didn't feel scared at all. She felt happy, knowing that even the reddest, stickiest 'blood' could be the gentlest, most wonderful medicine.