ly leaf overhead. They had all grown up together. They had learned
to dance in the Spring breezes, bask lazily in the Summer sun and
wash off in the cooling rains.
But it was Daniel who was Freddie's best friend. He was the largest
leaf on the limb and seemed to have been there before anyone else.
It appeared to Freddie that Daniel was also the wisest among them.
It was Daniel who told them that they were part of a tree. It was
Daniel who explained that they were growing in a public park. It
was Daniel who told them that the tree had strong roots which were
hidden in the ground below. He explained about the birds who came
to sit on their branch and sing morning songs. He explained about
the sun, the moon, the stars, and the seasons.
Freddie loved being a leaf. He loved his branch, his light leafy
friends, his place high in the sky, the wind that jostled him
about, the sun rays that warmed him, the moon that covered him with
soft, white shadows. Summer had been especially nice. The long hot
days felt good and the warm nights were peaceful and dreamy. There
were many people in the park that Summer. They often came and sat
under Freddie's tree. Daniel told him that giving shade was part of
his purpose.
'What's a purpose?' Freddie had asked.
'A reason for being,' Daniel had answered. 'To make things more
pleasant for others is a reason for being. To make shade for old
people who come to escape the heat of their homes is a reason for
being. To provide a cool place for children to come and play. To
fan with our leaves the picnickers who come to eat on checkered
tablecloths. These are all the reasons for being.'
Freddie especially liked the old people. They sat so quietly on the
cool grass and hardly ever moved. They talked in whispers of times
past. The children were fun, too, even though they sometimes tore
holes in the bark of the tree or carved their names into it. Still,
it was fun to watch them move so fast and to laugh so much.
But Freddie's Summer soon passed. It vanished on an October night.
He had never felt it so cold. All the leaves shivered with the
cold. They were coated with a thin layer of white which quickly
melted and left them dew drenched and sparkling in the morning sun.
Again, it was Daniel who explained that they had experienced their
first frost, the sign that it was Fall and that Winter would come
soon.
Almost at once, the whole tree, in fact, the whole park was
transformed into a blaze of color. There was hardly a green leaf
left. Alfred had turned a deep yellow. Ben had become a bright
orange. Clare had become a blazing red, Daniel a deep purple and
Freddie was red and gold and blue. How beautiful they all looked.
Freddie and his friends had made their tree a rainbow.
'Why did we turn different colors,' Freddie asked, 'when we are on
the same tree?'
'Each of us is different. We have had different experiences. We
have faced the sun differently. We have cast shade differently. Why
should we not have different colors?' Daniel said matter-of-factly.
Daniel told Freddie that this wonderful season was called
Fall.
One day a very strange thing happened. The same breezes that, in
the past, had made them dance began to push and pull at their
stems, almost as if they were angry. This caused some of the leaves
to be torn from their branches and swept up in the wind, tossed
about and dropped softly to the ground. All the leaves became
frightened.
'What's happening?' they asked each other in whispers.
'It's what happens in Fall,' Daniel told them. 'It's the time for
leaves to change their home. Some people call it to die.'
'Will we all die?' Freddie asked.
'Yes,' Daniel answered. 'Everything dies. No matter how big or
small, how weak or strong. We first do our job. We experience the
sun and the moon, the wind and the rain. We learn to dance and to
laugh. Then we die.'
'I won't die!' said Freddie with determination. 'Will you,
Daniel?'
'Yes,' answered Daniel, 'when it's my time.'
'When is that?' asked Freddie.
'No one knows for sure,' Daniel responded.
Freddie noticed that the other leaves continued to fall. He
thought, 'It must be their time.' He saw that some of the leaves
lashed back at the wind before they fell, others simply let go and
dropped quietly. Soon the tree was almost bare.
'I'm afraid to die,' Freddie told Daniel. 'I don't know what's down
there.'
'We all fear what we don't know, Freddie. It's natural,' Daniel
reassured him. 'Yet, you were not afraid when Summer became Fall.
They were natural changes. Why should you be afraid of the season
of death?'
'Does the tree die, too?' Freddie asked.
'Someday. But there is something stronger than the tree. It is
Life. That lasts forever and we are all a part of Life.'
'Where will we go when we die?'
'No one knows for sure. That's the great mystery!'
'Will we return in the Spring?'
'We may not, but Life will.'
'Then what has been the reason for all of this?' Freddie continued
to question. 'Why were we here at all if we only have to fall and
die?'
Daniel answered in his matter-of-fact way, 'It's been about the sun
and the moon. It's been about happy times together. It's been about
the shade and the old people and the children. It's been about
colors in Fall. It's been about seasons. Isn't that enough?'
'That afternoon, in the golden light of dusk, Daniel let go. He
fell effortlessly. He seemed to smile peacefully as he fell.
'Goodbye for now, Freddie,' he said.
Then, Freddie was all alone, the only leaf on his branch. The first
snow fell the following morning. It was soft, white, and gentle;
but it was bitter cold. There was hardly any sun that day, and the
day was very short. Freddie found himself losing his color,
becoming brittle. It was constantly cold and the snow weighed
heavily upon him.
At dawn the wind came that took Freddie from his branch. It didn't
hurt at all. He felt himself float quietly, gently and softly
downward. As he fell, he saw the whole tree for the first time. How
strong and firm it was! He was sure that it would live for a long
time and he knew that he had been part of its life and made him
proud.
Freddie landed on a clump of snow. It somehow felt soft and even
warm. In this new position he was more comfortable than he had ever
been. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. He did not know that
Spring would follow Winter and that the snow would melt into water.
He did not know that what appeared to be his useless dried self
would join with the water and serve to make the tree stronger. Most
of all, he did not know that there, asleep in the tree and the
ground, were already plans for new leaves in the Spring.
记录一下读后的对话，对话人：儿子、女儿、我。时间2013－12－11晚。
女儿：每片叶子都有名字和特色，我喜欢。
我：人和叶子一样，一生也经历四季。
儿子：我们现在是春天，Mom已经秋天了。
女儿：哪有，妈妈还在夏天呢。
我：好吧，算夏末秋初。
女儿：妈妈，你不会很快死吧？
我：为了你俩，我努力活得久一点。至少在你们需要我的时候好好活。
女儿：可我永远需要你。
儿子：Joanna，每个人都要死的，区别在于怎么活，你得接受这一点。
我：好，咱们都好好活。现在需要你们好好睡一觉，晚安！
心里总结：还是女儿贴心啊。。。 
