The Fall.
In a time many moons ago, before the year was broken up into the four seasons, there was a land
across the ocean. This land was, and still is, The Land of Stars and Stripes. In the Land of Stars
and Stripes there was a forest, a very large forest. All the trees in the forest grew very tall, and at the
centre of the forest was the tallest tree of them all.
Each morning the sun would rise, and the birds would begin to sing. As the morning chorus
progressed the leaves on the trees started to dance. The leaves on the lowest branches were the first
to start dancing, followed by the leaves on the branches above, and so on, until all the leaves on all
the trees were dancing. The last leaf to start dancing was the topmost leaf on the tallest tree. All the
other leaves thought she was a lazy leaf, but once she had started to dance she just couldn't stop,
she danced, and danced and danced, and only stopped when it grew dark - after all the birds had
stopped singing, and all the other leaves had gone to sleep.
One day, all the other leaves in the forest chided the topmost leaf for being lazy. The top most leaf
thought that she would show them that she was not lazy; as soon as she heard the birds singing she
started to dance the best dance of her life. She reached further, and further into the sky, twirling this
way, and that way until she could not reach any further. This only made the other leaves envious,
and they scorned her for showing off.
The wind too had been watching the leaves dance, and he didn't like what he saw. He alone was
supposed to create all movement in the air, and around the forest, and he was hardly blowing at all.
He grew more and more agitated as he watched the leaves dance, and he scurried away to the edge
of the forest to have a think. After thinking awhile the wind was no wiser, he just didn't know what
to do. This made him more and more agitated, and he started to blow, and blow. He blew so hard
that the leaves had to be very careful, but the topmost leaf was concentrating so hard on her dance
that she didn't noticed the gathering wind. Another blow, and the topmost leaf slipped and fell
gently through the air passing all the leaves on all the other branches. As she passed them she heard
them cheer her downfall, and she was very sad.
As the fallen leaf descended to the ground the wind realised what he had done. He was angry with
himself, and angry with all the other leaves in the forest for being so envious, and so mean in spirit.
As he thought about it he grew even angrier, and as he grew more and more angry he blew harder
and harder until one by one all the leaves started to fall from all the branches, on all the trees in the
forest. The wind looked at the bareness of the forest and shivered, and grew cold, for it was the
leaves on all the trees that had kept him warm.
For two months he waited to see if the leaves would grow back again, but no leaf appeared. The
wind had to think how he could bring back the trees to full leaf. For three months the wind searched
the snowfields of the deep north for a solution, but he couldn't find one. As a last resort he went to
meditate in the desert. It was so hot there that he could hardly think, so he took some of the hot air
from the desert and blew it all the way to the forest. When he returned to the desert to have another
think it was still uncomfortably hot, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't come up with a
solution. The wind was in despair, but more than anything else he wanted to see his beloved forest
again.
He bade farewell to the desert and slowly made his way back to the forest carrying more of the hot
desert air with him. When he got back to the forest the wind noticed that the air was warmer, and to
his surprise the trees were beginning to grow leaf buds, and he realised what he had done. The wind
went back to the desert for more hot air to keep the trees warm. He made many visits, and saw the
trees once again in full leaf, but he brought too much hot air and burnt the leaves - turning them
flame orange, after which they shrivelled and fell to the ground.
Each year the wind tries to bring the right amount of hot, desert air, but he always over estimates it,
and each year the same thing happens, the leaves turn flame orange, shrivel and fall to the ground -
that is why the wind separates the year into its seasons, and that is why, in the Land of Stars and
Stripes, they call the third season 'The Fall'.
The End.
2002.09.29.
Copyright 2002 by Terry Miles.