The leaf that wanted to stay green forever

A GREEN LEAF that once lived on a tree wanted to keep its vibrant colors forever. “It’s always summer in my heart”, told the other leaves on the same branch from which he hanged, and smiled. They couldn’t help but wonder with his liveliness and positive energy.

Autumn came. The other leaves of the tree started to change color: others became yellow, others red, and some became brown. The exact same thing happened on each and every tree, and the whole forest that was green during summer time soon changed its colors to those of the Autumn. So did the grass, the plants and the flowers that used to bloom below the trees, in turn losing their liveliness.

As soon as the leaf of our story realized what had happened, he got filled with fear. “But I want to stay green forever!”, he shouted at the other leaves on the tree, seeing their pale colors. So, they explained to him that sooner or later, and without the clouds hiding the Sun’s rays, he would lose his green color as well. They also reminded him that the warm summer days were long gone, and no matter how much he tried to delay his fate, the moment would come when he would eventually fall from the tree. 

Yet our good leaf wanted to have nothing to do with all this. So, he thought of reaching the furthest he could, stretching the branch that he was hanging from  along with him, so as to get as close as possible to the Sun’s rays. “What will you do when the clouds gather in the sky?”, the other leaves asked him then. And so, the days passed, and as the clouds were still not thick enough, the green leaf managed to stay green and young.

When one day the sky got filled with them, however, the leaves of the tree got panicked. Others became red with fear, while others jumped from the tree prematurely. The rest clung to their positions, patiently waiting their fate. Seeing the Sun hiding behind the clouds, our good green leaf felt his hope vanishing.

“No cloud can scare me”, the leaf shouted, and stretched his branch even further towards the Sun. He then felt the first raindrops land on him.

“No raindrop can scare me even!”, the leaf exclaimed, stretching the branch even further. Then the wind blew even stronger, the tree branch bent, and the few leaves that were left on the tree jumped to save themselves.