The Mystery of the Changing Leaves
Scarlett loved summer. She loved the cherry blossoms that bloomed on the tree in her backyard, and how the petals blew around whenever there was a light breeze. She loved to eat ice cream under this tree, and read her favorite books while the petals brushed against her face.
Pretty soon, she would be starting Kindergarten. Scarlett was nervous to go to a new school with new kids.
Would all the kids like her? Would there be anyone she knew? Scarlett didn't know. She was nervous.
One day, just before school started, Scarlett's dad took her outside under her favorite tree. "Don't worry, honey," he said. "You are going to love Kindergarten! Change is good. Just like you'll be changing schools, the leaves on this tree will soon start to change too."
What?! Scarlett had never seen this before. She didn't want her favorite tree to change too! "You won't be able to see it," dad had said, "But, one morning, you'll wake up, and everything out here will be different."
Scarlett couldn't understand how something could happen so fast. She vowed that she would be the one to watch this happen, overnight, so she could make some sense of what her dad was talking about. Night after night, after she was all tucked in, Scarlett crept outside in her pajamas, trying to figure out what was going on under her favorite tree.
But every night was the same. The leaves still looked green, and Scarlett would just end up too cold to stay out there all night, anyway. "Come back inside; you need your beauty rest," Dad would say.
"But Daddy," Scarlett would protest. "I want to see the leaves!"
"You will," he'd say.
A few weeks later, Scarlett woke up very chilly. "You'd better wear a scarf on your way to school this morning," Dad said. Scarlett didn't realize it, but as she walked into school that day, a trail of brown and orange leaves were left at her feet. One even stuck to her scarf behind her, but blew away when the wind kicked up.
When she got out of school that day, it was especially blustery outside. But Scarlett wasn't cold. She wanted to feel the wind in her hair and go sit out under her favorite cherry blossom tree when she got home. Only when she got there, something was very different.
"I want to show you something," Dad said. He took Scarlett out under her favorite tree. "Look up there," Dad whispered. Scarlett looked up. All the cherry blossoms and green leaves were gone! In their place were beautiful, golden yellow, and bright orange leaves, that crackled beneath her feet. Scarlett couldn't understand. It seemed like this had happened overnight! But every night, when Scarlett crept outside, the leaves were still the same.
"You can't watch the seasons change," Dad said. "It happens very slowly, all around us. When the weather gets colder, and the wind kicks up, the trees change color to tell us it is Fall."
What a miraculous mystery, Scarlett thought. She couldn't fully understand how it happened, but boy, she was sure glad it did!
From then on, every day after school Scarlett would take her little brother and go outside to watch the beautiful Fall leaves fall from her favorite tree. Her favorite blue birds had left, but now Scarlett enjoyed the company of the crows, who didn't seem to bother her (as lobng as there wasn't any food around!)
Soon, the whole neighborhood began to turn into Fall! Scarlett and her brother rode their bikes into the park and would stare up at the beautiful foliage . She could couldn't explain how it happened, but Scarlett knew she had a new favorite season, and set out to enjoy all of its wonder !
Happy Fall! The End
*All book images come from artwork on www.storybird.com. Text comes fromy my own work on the same website, and glossary definitions come from www.dictionary.com
