The Leaves’ Secret

Andria hummed tunelessly as she scooped up a pile of leaves from Mrs. Stewart’s yard. Mrs. Stewart was an elderly woman who had hired Andria to rake leaves for her.

Whoosh! Out of the blue, all the leaves Andria had raked flew out of the bag like an angry swarm of bees. She groaned and tried to pick up the leaves again. Yet the leaves just blew out again, like they didn’t want to be cooped up in the bag. Andria didn’t blame them.

But the leaves couldn’t have come to life. Or could they? But before Andria could think more about it, a massive, brown maple leaf jumped out of the bag.

“Freedom, freedom!” he cried. They had come to life, claiming freedom!

It’s not the end of the world. You can think of something, Andria encouraged herself. Abruptly, she remembered Mrs. Stewart’s backwoods.

“Leaf!” Andria called after the big leaf. He turned and even though he didn’t have a face, he seemed irritated. “Let me put you and your friends into the bag. I promise I will then bring you all to the perfect place and dump you all out there,” Andria persuaded, hopeful.

The leaf paused, considering the idea. Andria held her breath.

“OK . . . ,” the maple leaf replied gradually, still thinking. “Only if you don’t tell anyone that we are alive.”

“Deal!” Andria concluded, relieved. She raked up the last of the leaves and went to dump them in Mrs. Stewart’s backyard. Suddenly, she realized something.

“Wait one moment, I’ll be back,” she hollered over her shoulder as she hurried toward the house.

“Mrs. Stewart, may I dump the leaves in your backwoods?” Andria questioned once she was inside.

“Well, wouldn’t that be bad for all the wild plants?” Mrs. Stewart inquired.

“As a matter of fact, the leaves will decompose and help wild plants grow!” Andria informed Mrs. Stewart.

“Alright, but only one bag. We don’t want too many leaves lying around.”

Yes! Andria thought. She beamed so big, it filled the room with her happiness. Andria raced back to the woods to fulfill her promise