High and Lifted Up
by
Mike Krath
It was a
windy day.
The
mailman barely made it to the front door. When the door opened,
Mrs. Pennington said, "hello", but, before she had a real chance
to say "thank you", the mail blew out of the mailman's hands,
into the house and the front door slammed in his face. Mrs.
Pennington ran to pick up the mail.
"Oh
my," she said.
Tommy
was watching the shutters open and then shut, open and then
shut.
"Mom,"
he said, "may I go outside?"
"Be
careful," she said. "It's so windy today."
Tommy
crawled down from the window-seat and ran to the door. He opened
it with a bang. The wind blew fiercely and snatched the newly
recovered mail from Mrs. Pennington's hands and blew it even
further into the house.
"Oh
my," she said again. Tommy ran outside and the door slammed
shut.
Outside, yellow, gold, and red leaves were leaping from swaying
trees, landing on the roof, jumping off the roof, and then
chasing one another down the street in tiny whirlwinds of
merriment.
Tommy
watched in fascination.
"If I
was a leaf, I would fly clear across the world," Tommy thought
and then ran out into the yard among the swirl of colors.
Mrs.
Pennington came to the front porch.
"Tommy,
I have your jacket. Please put it on."
However, there was no Tommy in the front yard.
"Tommy?"
Tommy
was a leaf. He was blowing down the street with the rest of his
play-mates.
A maple
leaf came close-by, touched him and moved ahead. Tommy met him
shortly, brushed against him, and moved further ahead. They
swirled around and around, hit cars and poles, flew up into the
air and then down again.
"This
is fun," Tommy thought.
The
maple leaf blew in front of him. It was bright red with
well-defined veins. The sun-light shone through it giving it a
brilliance never before seen by a little boy's eyes.
"Where
do you think we are going?" Tommy asked the leaf.
"Does
it matter?" the leaf replied. "Have fun. Life is short."
"I beg
to differ," an older leaf said suddenly coming beside them. "The
journey may be short, but the end is the beginning."
Tommy
pondered this the best a leaf could ponder.
"Where
do we end up?"
"If the
wind blows you in that direction," the old leaf said, "you will
end up in the city dump."
"I
don't want that," Tommy said.
"If you
are blown in that direction, you will fly high into the air and
see things that no leaf has seen before."
"Follow
me to the city dump," the maple leaf said. "Most of my friends
are there."
The
wind blew Tommy and the maple leaf along. Tommy thought of his
choices. He wanted to continue to play.
"Okay,"
Tommy said, "I will go with you to the dump."
The
winds shifted and Tommy and the leaf were blown in the direction
of the city dump.
The old
leaf didn't follow. He was blown further down the block and
suddenly lifted up high into the air.
"Hey,"
he called out, "the sights up here. They are spectacular. Come
and see."
Tommy
and the maple leaf ignored him.
"I see
something. I see the dump." The old leaf cried out. "I see
smoke. Come up here. I see fire."
"I see
nothing," the maple leaf said.
Tommy
saw the fence that surrounded the city dump. He was happy to be
with his friend. They would have fun in the dump.
Suddenly, a car pulled up. It was Tommy's mom. Mrs. Pennington
wasn't about to let her little boy run into the city dump.
"Not so
fast," she said getting out of the car. "You are not allowed to
play in there. Don't you see the smoke?"
Tommy
watched the maple leaf blow against the wall and struggle to get
over. He ran over to get it but was unable to reach it.
Mrs.
Pennington walked over and took the leaf. She put it in her
pocket.
"There," she said, "it will be safe until we get home."
Tommy
smiled, ran to the car and got in. He rolled down the back
window and looked up into the sky. He wondered where the old
leaf had gone. Perhaps one day he would see what the old leaf
had seen - perhaps.
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