The Change of Fall

The Change of Fall
By: Kyle Turner

Scott looked out his window, past his 10-year-old reflection, into the busy street. He saw mothers dragging young boys to get ready for the new school year. He saw fathers shopping for new tools. He saw young women shopping for the most exquisite jewelry. He saw young men eyeing the young girls and summoning up courage to ask one to the Start of Fall Dance. He saw street vendors piling the old stone street, occasionally catching the eye of a woman to whom he could sell his products. Past all of that though, he saw a great tree that sat right on the road in front of all the people. That tree was the reason why they only used that road for shopping.
He noticed that some of the tree’s leaves were a stunning green while others were becoming a dull red, yellow, or orange. Scott went to sleep that day thinking only about the change of the tree.
The next day he pointed this out to his mother and asked, “Why would it change?”
She replied in a motherly tone, “You will learn later on, but don’t worry it will be back in a couple of months.”
Disappointed, Scott went back up to his room and stared out the window, considering the mystery of the tree.
A few months later he was disturbed to find that none of the leaves were turning back, in fact some were starting to fall to the ground only to be trampled by the fur vendors coming through. He asked his mother again, “You said it would turn back but now they are falling off. Why would it change?”
She answered him, “You will learn later but they will come back.”
He went back to his room, leaving his mom preparing dinner, and watched as tiny white flakes started catching on the tree. This disappointed him even more because the more snow fell, the more leaves that fell off. He was very angry because he did not like all the changes that were happening to the tree.
Over the next few months, Scott watched the tree as it grew bare. The snow looked as if it were the tree’s leaves now. He hated the fact that the tree changed and then was overrun by snow. He asked his mom again and she replied with the same answer.
He waited a few more months before joy suddenly swept across his face. He noticed on one sunny morning that the snow was melting off the tree, and was being replaced with tiny new leaves. Over the next few weeks, the tree came alive in its entire splendor. It was covered in brand-new, green leaves. Scott finally realized what had happened over the year. The tree had to change so it could prepare for the new life it was granting.
Scott watched the tree change every year. He hated the look of it in the winter but in the spring, it came alive with life. Until he was 18, Scott watched that tree. When it was time to go to college, Scott realized how he, like the tree, would have to change and become barren before he too would come alive and truly live.
Now there he was, sitting in his rocking chair, catching a gentle breeze through the open window. He was seventy-eight; his wife was dead from the cancer. His children live up north. And as he sits, he catches sight of a beautiful tree, standing right next to the window. He gazes at it with all the wisdom of age. Then, he closed his eyes in an unawakening sleep. Just then, a single leaf floated down from the heavens, and landed on his head.