Greetings all. With Autumn well on its way, it’s time for me to share with you a seasonal short story. This is one of my own.

The Fall
by Lewis Skinner

“It’s getting cold.”
“Yes. Winter is nearly here.”
“We’ll be making the fall soon I suppose? I’ve almost lost all of my green.”
“Yes. Won’t be long now. You’ll know when it’s time.”
“Are you nervous?”
“No. It is inevitable. It has always been this way for us.”
“I don’t remember.”
“Few do. Some day you will though. She always reveals Her secrets to those who are willing to listen.”

Night falls. Day breaks…

“It has begun. I shall be leaving soon. Your time will not be far behind.”
“Goodbye my friend. I hope that we will meet again.”
“That would be nice. I’m sure that we will, sooner or later.”
“I shall listen for Her secrets.”
“Good. The time has come. Here I go…”

And with that he fell. He broke away and danced with the wind. I could hear him being overwhelmed with ecstasy. I could sense his exultation, knowing that I was experiencing only a fraction of what he was feeling, and that soon I would experience it too. As he spiralled lower and lower, I could feel him becoming more distant, until finally he hit the ground and was gone. The vessel that housed him still remained, but it was inert and lifeless. It could still travel with the wind, but it was just a hollow shell.

Night falls. Day breaks…

It feels lonely now. I am the only one left on my branch. All I can hear is the soft whispering of the tree. It is comforting, and it is all I have ever known. The tree has been like a mother to me, and to all of us. She is both crying and rejoicing at our leaving. Part of her is expressing a mother’s pride of having her offspring leave home. Perhaps she is aware of the happiness I am to feel, just as my good friend has felt. But part of her is also feeling the sadness and sorrow that saying goodbye brings. She begs me to stay, yet knows that I must go. It is inevitable. There’s that word again. Oh, how I miss my good friend. But I shall be joining him soon enough.

Night falls. Day breaks…

There are few of us left on the tree, and in fact on most of the trees around us. I feel as though my time is coming. I have made my peace, and am ready to go. I am becoming aware of an uprising in me, a strong pressure mounting inside, pleading to be released. The energy surging through me is indescribable. I feel as though I am about to explode. It is building and building, and then in a crescendo of pleasure I break away. I have never felt more alive. All around me is brightness. Ecstasy is my only companion. The wind catches me in its grip, and I spiral wildly around. I am truly falling.

And yet as I am getting closer to the ground, I feel a strange sense of duality. I feel just as alive as I was when I broke away, and yet part of me is fading. I am slipping away, being drained from the vessel I have known for so long. The Earth is approaching. Faster, faster! Never regret, never fear. Only ecstasy. And then I am gone.

* * *

To look down upon those leaves scattered around on the ground beneath the trees, there is a certain sadness to know that all they once were is no more. Empty shells, withering away, rejoining the Earth where they were first conceived. But therein lies the magic of Nature. To know that they will return again next year, and while most will not remember where they have been, some of them will.