Free Like the Red Leaf
Meganne L.

A single red leaf detaching from the tall, willowy oak tree by a gentle wind caught my attention. I watched the leaf as it floated down in an endless winding path from where I sat in my history class, listening to my teacher lecture. I could almost feel the crisp leaf, dry and crinkly like a piece of paper soaked wet and now dry. Quiet as I watched its floating descent, I could almost hear the wind accompany the leaf as if it was providing a musical accompaniment. I closed my eyes and imagined a vast field surrounded by trees. I was in the middle of the field, my eyes watching the red leaf as it twisted and turned this way and that on its downward descent.

A small, barely noticeable, breeze ran around me, inviting me to come and play. The sounds of chirping birds singing their sweet songs, the rush of the wind running wildly, the crunch of dry leaves under the tires of cars as they speed down a country road; these sounds joined together in a wonderful song. It was like a musical show; the red leaf was the star, I was the audience, and the sounds of nature were the grand orchestra. I listened to the music and I could smell the wonderful crisp smells of autumn and smoke from a burning pile of wood in the front yard of the firehouse floated into the blue cloudless sky, and the leaf continued down, using the light grey smoke as a tumbling staircase.

Autumn was in the air; I could taste its cool sweetness with every breath I took. The crisp air had that certain sweetness, like a ripe strawberry plucked from a garden and washed off in a nearby country stream before being eaten. I watched the leaf. It was close to the ground now, almost there. Before the five-starred crisp paper could touch the ground, a wind ran by and whisked the leaf up away from the ground, like the way a brawny football player scoops up a pigskin football after a fumble. I watched the red leaf again. It ran playfully with the wind, like the way two best friends walk home from school with jokes and laughter. The leaf and the wind were best friends. The wind carried the leaf with the greatest of ease. I smiled. I could almost hear the laughter of children accompany the red leaf and the wind.

The red leaf grew distant as the wind lifted it higher and higher above the tall trees. At long last, I saw the red leaf disappear over the trees. The vast field I was standing in slowly melted into my history class. I cast a forlorn look out the window; I wanted to be free. Free like the red leaf and the wind. Free from the grasps, boundaries, and strict adherence to society's rules, like the red leaf and the wind. Free from the heavy weight on my shoulders that burdened me to do well to please others. Free like the wind.

The bell rang and all thoughts about being free and the red leaf with the wind were immediately pushed out of my mind as I gathered my stuff to go to my next class. But all through the day, I could only think of one thing. As the day passed, and I went to my classes and to home and did my homework, one phrase echoed repetitiously in my mind.

I want to be free like the red leaf.