"You shouldn't want that, Leifa." Prink told me again.
I sulked silently as I watched the leaf silently land on the floor.
"You know that's the end of life, right?" She asked me again.
"How do you know that?" I asked her back. "You all just assume that reaching the soil is the end simply because you're too afraid to cut your stalks."
"Maybe you should be more afraid of your stalk being cut." She shouted back at me.
"You know that being disconnected from your tree means you're no longer connected to us, it means we can no longer share our thoughts, we can no longer sweat, breathe or live." She started crying now.
"I know it and you know it cause you saw it happen to mom." As she said that she broke down, crying and wailing on her side of the branch.
I hung on looking at her, unsure if this was an act to buy my pity or simply moved by our moms passing.
I do miss her at times. Our mom was a beautiful leaf. With her healthy bright green colour and her bold distinct veins, she was a standard for all leaves.
Hence it was shocking to see her simply fall off without being plucked nor grow orange.
My sister Prink cried her eyes out and other leaves comforted her, some comforted me too, thinking I was too shocked to cry, having witnessed the whole event.
I don't understand why they call it a sad event, I never once thought of it as sad, nor do I think my mom did, cause from what I saw she was happy all the way down.
Her trip through the air, although short, was a wave of happy emotions.
Her dancing in the wind, the twists, spins and twirls played with my infant heart.
I watched the wind sprites, ever playful, blow some air to keep her afloat and others dancing around her too.
I watched her glide and soar, exuding a wave of freedom that I couldn't even fathom as I was glued to this wood.
Slowly she flew, until gravity reclaimed control, bringing her back to rest on the soil.
Even on her way down, my mother, ever the rascal, managed to steal one last twirl before landing.
She looked like those human dancers who spun in practice next to our tree, what were they called..
Ermm ``Ballerinas!!" I said it outloud, making Prink look up from her sob and give me a stink eye.
She always hated them, thinking that they are the ones who put the idea of dance in the air in my head.
I have told her about what I saw in our Mom's fall and she shunned me, telling me I was too young to comprehend.
Now I was older and more sure of what I saw and what it meant.
"I know you think you know what is best for me and you're trying to protect me.. " I said, swinging close to her, "..but there's nothing to protect me from."
"I've made up my mind, and I'm going to go through with it."
She simply huffed and turned away.
Later that day, just before the sun set, I felt the wind rustle through the trees.
The wind sprites looking for any leaf ready to leave their stalk.
I had been bending and shaking every which way since my argument with Prink in the morning, trying to loosen my stalk from when I would be cut from it.
"Seems this one wants to leave." I heard behind me.
I turned to see a gust of wind take form as a miniature person.
"What did you say little leaf?" He asked..
"Are you ready to leave the tree?" Another asked joining the first.
Soon there were a lot of miniature wind sprites and it became incredibly breezy.
"If I leave, would I be free? Would I dance?" I asked them, hoping against hope I could have the same flight as my mother.
"Your freedom would have no bounds, you'll dance with us." They all answered gleefully.
Smiling, I nodded my head to signify I was ready.
Immediately, I felt a strong gust of wind pushing me up from my branch, then down, then sideways, then up again.
I closed my eyes as dirt and dust gathered with the breeze.
Suddenly I felt weightless and I had an urge to open my eyes.
I was in the clouds, I looked and saw a wide expanse of the sky all around me.
Looking down, I saw a small green dot that looked like the huge tree where I came from.
"How do you feel?" A wind sprite asked me, giggling and twirling.
"I feel light" I replied, joy making me stutter.
"I feel happy." I said again, now laughing as I was spinning.
"I feel free." Laughing out loud as I spun and twirled in the air.
Breeze blowing in every direction and my senses flowing through every which way.
It felt like I stayed afloat for hours when in reality it was little over 10 seconds.
On my slow descent to the ground, I felt great, happy and free.
"How do you feel?" The last of the wind sprites asked me, as he gave me a little burst to land softly.
In my last moment of consciousness I saw my sister looking at me. With a smile, I replied to the wind sprites question."I feel Alive."
Had some issues when creating the visual.for the story so it would be changed later...
Regardless it was made using Canva
