George

George.

George was born on a crisp golden Spring morning. He was pushed out into the- world to meet the morning sunshine along with many others of his kind, as is the way of the world.
As he grew from his early crumpled form he became a very handsome leaf indeed and even when only one week old he gained a consciousness of himself and the world around him. George observed that the leaves with which he shared his group were broad, open and outstretched in nature. They were a rich lime green in colour with a fine vein structure that formed a neat and concise pattern that added to their handsome features. George was one of five leaves in a cluster with the other four also being called George. He quickly became friends with other leaves from his own branch and would spend many happy hours talking with them especially a cluster of slightly older leaves a little further up and inboard of George’s position. The four leaves in this other cluster were all called Sara.

The names of leaves were given to them by the tree they lived on which was a fairly old male tree of little imagination and merit. His name was Arbuthnot and he had long ago ceased caring about leaf naming but spent most of his time drinking and expanding his physical presence in the copse of trees where he stood. This had caused him to become a fine large tree but with an oddly robust trunk at the base and an ungainly gangle of far reaching branches, which appeared to have grown too fast for the balance of the tree as a whole. Whilst some trees chose to restrain their outward growth for a compact and ordered appearance or with an artistic nature they would form perfect shapes of elegant and trim perspectives Arbuthnot went for size and presence grabbing as much of the sky and water from the ground as possible. Whilst he was unarguably successful in this he was prone to wild thrashing movement whenever the¬ wind picked up lashing other trees and flailing around in a somewhat ungainly dance. Anyway Arbuthnot was not about to spend time composing special names for each of his leaf offspring and each year he would use the same names to send to each branch but only enough for one name-for each clump of leaves.

When George was about two weeks old he and the other Georges were talking to the Saras about how they could address each other independently. The previous day one of the other Georges had commented on the appearance of a spot on the bottom of one of the Sara. Unfortunately the wrong Sara thought he was talking about her and as she knew she didn't have any spots, took umbrage and arranged her shape so as to drip, on the offending George all day long. Leaves have a limited ability to change their shapes to affect the way they can improve their lot or that of surrounding leaves. By curling slightly and changing their profile they can channel fresh rainwater to sheltered leaves below. Or they can stretch out to shield an ailing leaf or present the greatest area to benefit themselves from Sunshine or rain. They can also exude sticky saliva to drip onto undesirables below and this is what this Sara did.

They all agreed that independent names were a good idea, and set about suggesting and choosing names for themselves but based on their given name so if spoken it would sound like George or Sara. They wouldn't want Arbuthnot learning they had changed his chosen names. Arbuthnot was able to affect the food delivered to each leaf and therefore could control to some extent the behavior of all parts of himself and his attachments to the good of the tree overall. In exchange for the continued supply of food the leaves were respectful of Arbuthnot and worked for him during warm sunny days to convert his food to energy, which they passed back to him. They all knew who had the power, Arbuthnot could survive without his leaves almost indefinitely but the leaves definitely needed Arbuthnot's food continually. This kept the leaves in their place. So the names were considered and chosen. George stayed as George but the others became Georgee, Georger, Georgea and Gregory. They were all a little uncomfortable with Gregory as it strayed a little far from the sound of George. However as everyone knows, leaves hear everything but only speak when the wind blows to disguise their words under cover of the general rustling sound of them rubbing against each other (a subtle form of group communication intended for the ears of other creatures). This general sound masks their actual voices such that no others may hear them. Trees on the other hand are notoriously hard of hearing and speak in louder slower voices of limited vocabulary and because of this they rarely hear leaf talk. This is often just as well as the leaves are terrible gossips and often exchange rude comments about the trees they are attached to.

The Saras were renamed Sara, Sarea, Sareon and Sareanne. George was pleased with this renaming and communications improved in the following days as they discussed their position and purpose as well as their surroundings. George particularly enjoyed his location being right on the end of a strong bough that reached out to the sky and afforded an excellent view of the surrounding land. He also had clear un-interrupted access to the sky and the warmth that came from it.

Arbuthnot, the tree George lived on was quite old and was one of about 50 trees in a small copse of trees nestled on the slope of a small green valley. The copse was positioned on the junction of four small fields, which formed the visible extent of the Southwest facing side of a valley. At the base of the valley was a small stream, which meandered carelessly through lower reaches of the fields as it passed into and from the valley to the plains and river below. At the head of the valley George could see-some rolling hills over which most of the rain bearing clouds came. He thought that the clouds were made by the hills and the Leaf and Tree folk called these The Hills of Life or Holmfirth Hills from the ancient dialect of the Arbourths of old. It was the Arbourths who were the holders of all historical knowledge, which is passed from tree to tree and in turn from each tree through its branches to each leaf, flower and fruit. The total knowledge held and passed on was not extensive as it was widely accepted that trees have limited capacity for retaining such knowledge. They compensated for this with an enormous reservoir of emotion and feeling which they used to affect the way in which they presented themselves and impose their feelings on other living things as they passed by. The trees believed that they could affect the mood and moment of any plant or creature (although in different ways) by presenting any particular appearance or atmosphere to make them joyful, somber or just prompt recollections of past emotions. Some of the visual impact was of course outside of their control being caused by the seasonal cycle but the trees claimed all of this as their own gift. The trees believed that seasonal changes to themselves were pro-actively and willfully brought about by the trees to best preserve their wellbeing. In this way they make best use of the warm sunny periods to grow and reproduce whilst shrinking back to a skeletal form in colder weather to preserve nutrients when these were at their scarcest.

Trees generate their own food from the year long abundance of water within the ground and use the heat from the sun and the warmer months to drive the internal work the leaves perform to convert this into¬ food and energy for itself. This energy was needed in turn to drive water drunk by the tree up through the tree structure to the farthest and uppermost parts. It was the Sun therefore which was considered most reverently by the tree and they called it "Hamther" which is interpreted as Heat Bringer in Arbouthnian.

On the other side of the valley was a small farm which was occupied by an old farmer and his wife. The farmhouse was a crude stone built single level dwelling with a crumbling shed at one end in which some chickens were sometimes kept and hay stored. The roof was thatched with reeds and had a small stone chimney from which there was a continuous trail of smoke whatever time of day or season. As far as the eye could see (from George's tree at least) a single expanse of pasture surrounded the farm and on this a number of black and white cattle grazed. A dry cracked wooden post and rail fence surrounded the farmhouse broken only by a wide substantial gate. This gate allowed a track to enter the inner farm area but, whilst closed at least, kept out the livestock. As the track passed behind the house and over the top of the valley it became unclear as to where it went. But this was not important.

The farm was worked by the old man and his wife who stayed in or around their farm at all times except for once a week they would disappear up the track in an old van and come back several hours later carrying various bags and parcels into the house. George and his friends observed their routine each day always following the same pattern. The farmer would come out in the morning and walk in his meadow talking to the cows before returning to the house. Sometimes he would put out hay for them and meal from sacks. This exercise he repeated late in the afternoon. His wife would appear several times a day to tend to her garden or to feed the chickens or put washing on the clothes line. Theirs was a quiet and uneventful existence.


One day however, a large black car came to the farmhouse and two very serious men emerged from it with a small child. The men were dressed in black suits with black ties and funny looking rounded hats. One was quite tall and thin whilst the other was a more dumpy shape with a slow uneven walk. They all went into the house and after a while the two men came out without the boy, got back in their car and disappeared up the track. The trees could sense sadness and darkness from the farmhouse that day and communicated this to all leaves and their surroundings.

The next day the child was seen following the old man on his chores as well as the lady as she went about her daily duties. At first the child was attentive and followed close to the elders. But soon he started to wander off. It wasn't long before the child came down to the' stream where-George and his friends could see him better. The child was a little boy with a rounded face, fair hair and dark hazel coloured eyes. To the leaves he had a natural sense of wood and straw because of this but also a sense of loneliness arid sorrow. A similar sense to that found in a sapling found far from other trees in a clearing or open area. It is unsure of its position in things and whilst expectant of a long and optimistic future it is lacking in the comfort of shared reassurance from others around him.

However whilst at the stream the boys humour improved as he jumped and splashed around on its grassy banks, At first he was testing himself to see how far across he could jump. But this soon resulted in him putting one foot in the edge of the stream to receive a sodden shoe and sock. Then both feet landed in with one becoming temporarily stuck in a particularly muddy patch. As more ambitious jumps resulted in more wet and muddy encounters with the edge of the stream so the boy's amusement increased until soon he was laughing and splashing up and down the stream wet from head to toe and covered in splatterings of rich brown mud.

After a while he tired a little and came to the side of the stream on which the copse grew. Fresh knowledge surged through the tree and into the leaves from Arbuthnot's recollections of Arbourthnian lore. The knowledge communicated sympathy for small humans who were to be welcomed and protected. Although they were known to play and climb in trees and sometimes take blanches and small saplings for their play they could also be filled with wonder and romance by the trees which would stay with them forever and provide protective feelings for these trees when they became adults. As part of this influx of information an image of the Farmer across the valley came to the leaves showing him in ever-decreasing size and age until he too was a child not dissimilar to the boy before them. The new feelings were of close contact between the trees and the child farmer as each being part of the other with the child in amongst the trees, branches and leaves. The farmer had obviously played in the trees as a youngster and an understanding of mutual respect and wellbeing had passed between them.


By now all trees were issuing emotions to the child with the female trees displaying their mid Spring glory and preening themselves in the gentle mid-morning breeze. The leaves of these trees were changing shapes rapidly and rhythmically to catch each breeze and have them sail into the next leaf in perfect synchronization such that the trees collective song was carried to the child. The male trees stood as erect and strong as they could, offering strong bows as low as possible for the child to climb up into. Arbuthnot attempted this also but instead of offering quiet stable branches the breeze moved his long thin limbs around in an ¬unsteady swaying motion. He would not attract the child. It was a nearby male tree that was favoured. An old Chestnut tree, with many lower mature branches offered easy step up points for the child. Whilst not the best looking of trees, it was rather sparse of branches near the top, it offered a fine climbing opportunity for the boy. There was no sense of jealousy that the child had chosen one tree over another but there was a collective sense of comfort and well-being that he had chosen a safe tree of good character. For it is also well known amongst trees that they have different characters and mostly are good natured. They are also mostly considerate of humans and follow the Arbourthnian code of care towards them

However one type of tree carries a different variation of the Arbounhnian code based on happenings many years ago in the depths of time. The Elm had evolved with a meaner disposition with a strangely large incidence of male trees over female. They had a deep dislike of humans and only saw the damage inflicted on trees by them. They did not accept any part of the code that stated humans looked after and cultivated trees seeing this as only a means for their own human greed and not for the benefit of the trees themselves. Fortunately there was only one Elm tree in George’s copse and Arbuthnot largely masked him from view. The Elm was called Helmut and carried himself with a stiff arrogance and self-pride not suffered by other trees. They provided no fruit or berries nor could their wood be useful to man and therefore gave nothing of themselves to others in the world. They were not pretty and only issued a mood of darkness and melancholy to those who observed them or passed close to them. It was fortunate indeed that the child had not chosen Helmut to climb.

By mid day the child slowed his play and ambled back to the far side of the stream before lazing on the grassy slope in the warm sun until dry. By early afternoon he had gone back to the farm, carelessly brushing his muddy self as went.

Although the Child was seen in the garden over the next few days he did not venture back to the copse until the following week. When he did return he was carrying a small bundle tied in a bow. This he placed at the base of a densely leafed tree near the stream (George assumed that this was to keep it cool) and proceeded to investigate the stream again. This time there were no bold leaps over the stream and no careless splashing. He seemed more intent with what was in the stream and spent his time peering into the tumbling water.
He started reaching into the water to grasp unseen objects but his hand always emerged empty and in opening his hand each time it seemed to cast a frown on his face. This did not seem to deter him however and he reached further and further into the stream in his game of grasping whatever was within. When he eventually tired of this he placed twigs and bits of grass into the stream and watched them race each other in the quick flow. They were carried down to a place where rocks had become exposed and where the stream fell a little in a small rocky weir, little more than a knees height, to a lower part of the stream below. Here the stream having complained a little noisily about the indignity of the fall collected itself and carried on its way.

The racing: twigs and grasses could not pass over the little weir so accumulated there and caused an obstruction such that the water was persuaded to lift itself up over them. When the boy saw this he went down to the small pool that had now formed and with the help of a fallen branch he pulled the tangled racers to the dry bank and cleared the stream of its temporary dam. In seeing this behaviour the trees all murmured approval to the boy and again proceeded to make the same efforts as the¬ previous week to attract him to them. However instead of coming into the copse the boy sat down by his bundle and opened it to display a small parcel of food. He had a quarter loaf of the farm ladies home-made bread, a wedge of cheese, half a sausage and some candied fruit. He ate hungrily and had soon finished his meal before returning to the stream to drink deeply from the now crystal clear pool by the weir.

Only after his meal did the boy venture into the copse and past the tree he had favoured before which George now had learnt was called Heartaer, and was approaching Arbuthnot. Arbuthnot was desperately trying to keeps his limbs under control for there was a fresh spring breeze in the air. The boy passed underneath and close to the base of Arbuthnot and was looking up to Arbuthnot's lower branches calculating their ease of access and probability of climbing to any height. Suddenly a new breeze caught one of Arbuthnot's lower limbs which swayed and brushed the boy's head, scratching past as it went. Well, the trees around all gasped and with the passing of the breeze which had caused Arbuthnot's embarrassment, gave a rattling wave of disapproving leaf activity. Arbuthnot's branches and leaves went still, stiffened in acute self-awareness and the aura and mood of the tree dropped. Arbuthnot in this instant became uninteresting to the boy who merely ducked a little ¬allowing slightly more clearance for the next-branch as he lightly rubbed his head and moved on past. He was now headed directly towards Helmut and another tree. The other tree was a female called Thooda. She knew instinctively what she needed to do to tempt the child away from Helmut, She too calmed her branches, more successfully than Arbuthnot had done, and with an enormous effort and use of her leaf generated energy pumped as much moisture out to the lower limbs as she could. In fact she pushed so hard she felt a little dizzy which left the upper branches swaying a little more than was appropriate for a respectable female tree.
Her efforts were rewarded however as the increased flow of moisture had made the lower boughs sag lower and closer together inviting the boy to come into and onto them.

Meanwhile Helmut stood motionless. He was not attempting to entice the boy for he didn't fancy his spidery antics over his fine limbs. But he was aware that if the boy came to him the opportunity to do him harm might present itself and that would be satisfying indeed. In his indecision he remained still.

Thooda was successful and the boy climbed into her arms and nimbly up over her limbs. He remained mainly close to her body holding tight in an uncertain way as he progressed to a position about two thirds of her height. Thooda giggled in her leaves by shaking them when the boy passed over her supple branches. She was not accustomed to this experience and his light footsteps tickled. She bore without complaint or flinching (a sudden move that could cause the boy to lose his footing) the occasional snapped small branch or inevitable torn off leaf.

The leaves were rapidly invested with the words to sing to any leaves dislodged by the boys antics and caused to fall;

Down my friend to heaven you go To be rebom in a mornings glow.

It was a short simple song but due to the amount it needed to be sung at certain times of the year and duration of time it remained in earshot of the falling leaf, necessarily so. It could of course be sung many times over to comfort the remaining leaves that mourn young leaves falling well before their time. However it should only be sung during the noise made by the disturbance which caused the leaf to fall for no other living thing should hear their voices or song.

The boy reached the top of his climb and moved only to seek different views. He could see to the South and West but North and East were obscured by taller trees and trees on higher ground. He stayed there for a while no doubt imagining being in many different circumstances high and powerful above the ground. Or exploring places with a high commanding vantage point. Thooda stayed as rigid as she could for him whilst forcing as much movement as she could affect over her boughs to give the boy secure footsteps and hand holds. Eventually the boy descended from the tree and left Thooda's protection and having descended to the rear of her position moved around her lower bows in an arc to go back towards the stream. Helmut was not going to miss this opportunity and as the boy strayed close to his boughs he swung a lower limb up behind the boy and gave him a large thump on his upper back. He quickly followed this with a violent quiver of his upper boughs to mimic a breeze passing for the boy to blame. The boy went sprawling on the ground, hurt and dazed and lay there motionless for a few moments before bursting into tears.
He picked himself up and giving all trees as wide a clearance as he could he made his way back to the stream and home.

There was much talk that night of Helmuts disgraceful behaviour, and some of Arbuthnot’s carelessness, although happily for Arbuthtlot his was agreed to be accidental and not his fault, But Helmut was un¬repentant and ignored the other trees complaints. He was entitled to behave as he pleased he said and shook his branches at any other trees that expressed an opinion otherwise.

The Georges and Saras discussed the happenings themselves that night and made up stories about the boy. Sarea was sure that the boy would become a farmer himself and protect the trees. Sareanne however believed he would marry a pretty wife of his own and she would visit the trees and sing to them and enjoy their shade. However the boys thought differently. Georgea said that he expected the boy would become a woodsman and cut them all down. Gregory thought he would be a warrior in other lands and leave the land unattended so that the copse would become choked with unkempt undergrowth. He animated his comments by curling himself up tight and gurgling in mock strangulation. Sara told him to stop being silly and not to frighten the other leaves but Gregory only stopped his act when George spoke. George said that he was sure that the little boy would play a part in the future of the copse but thought it foolish to even try to guess bow this might be.

The spring turned to summer and life went on as before with the child returning to the stream and the trees several times a week and nearly every day in the warmer summer weeks. The trees would all try to tempt him into their boughs, even the females and all were concerted in the efforts to keep him away from Helmut. Over the-summer the child became very good at climbing, he had made a most excellent camp underneath Thooda’s protective boughs from loose branches forming the walls and ferns for the roof. On several hot balmy nights he stayed out in the copse in his camp and all the-trees stilled their branches as much as they were able to allow him restful sleep with only a tinkling of leaves to provide comforting background noise. They knew he should not have to suffer the loneliness of silence.

During the days he had learnt how to catch tiny silverfish from the stream in his hands. He always returned these unharmed to the pool by the weir counting them each day as trophies:

These daily cycles were only broken late in the summer by the arrival on the farm of a second child. It seemed to the leaves that this child had been allowed to stay for a while as company for the boy. And what good company they were together. Every day they visited the stream and the camp, catching fishes and playing together. The second child seemed every bit as agreeable as the first although he wasn't always so careful with the few fishes that he caught and once put one down the neck of his friend. This caused much excitement and manic activity as the fish was recovered. It also led to a fierce but brief argument as the fish had died during the-prank. However this was their only quarrel and was soon forgotten as they chased and raced across the fields, scattering the cows and falling exhausted in the shade of the tress nearest to the stream. Food was shared from tightly wrapped bundles, which were thoughtfully packed for midday and evening meals. Drink was always from the stream and never have more contented boys ever played so well together. The pair visited most good climbing trees during this time and would take it in turns to choose which ones they would climb. Some trees sustained an amount of damage from the boys' eagerness to reach further than each other in height and along slender boughs, This damage was borne with good grace by the trees as they felt this to be a small price to pay for the pleasure and goodwill of the children.

One day both boys found and approached Helmut together. Despite the best efforts of the other trees to give out their most positive of feelings and trying to subtly bar the boys way the boys were drawn by the challenge of this large foreboding tree. For Helmut no longer masked his dislike of the boys with indifference, instead he was angry at the invasion of his peaceful existence by these two alien humans. The boys recognizing a challenge took to Helmut's lower branches and proceeded to climb higher and higher. Helmut engineered his branches to afford unnaturally easy reaches for them to climb, which masked their true height, and the challenge they may present on the decent. However the boys were not attentive to this and were not in the mood to consider the future consequences of each upward step. Coming down was not in their minds all, only the though to match each other and to out climb each other as boys are likely to do in such circumstances. At length they reached as far as they could go, and both achieved a position of equal height either side of Helmuts trunk. There was no substantial branch onto and even Helmut could not stiffen them enough to fool the boys into thinking they could gain a higher position.
So here the boys stayed, marveling at their shared view. They called out to the farmer's wife who happened to be in the garden of the farmhouse but she had no chance of spying the boys in their lofty position. They would frighten each other by nervously shaking the main trunk in mock storm movement and frighten themselves as much as the other in common enjoyment of shared peril.

After a while they tired of this and decided to descend so started back down the tree. By now Helmut had pulled his branches further apart to make each step as far from the next as possible. Every child who has ever climbed a tree knows it is far more difficult and unnerving coming down a tree than going up. With the added difficulty of a hostile tree moving the branches apart and exaggerating branch movements in the wind, the descent was proving worryingly difficult. Helmut had been waiting for this opportunity to gain influence over humans and was going to make the best of it He forced moisture to the middle height boughs to weigh them down away from the bows above as well as sweating slimy sap to the edges of the boughs to make them slippery to stand on. The boys' descent stalled at this point of the tree and they considered their options. It was no use staying there hoping for help to come for the farmer and his wife would only assume they were staying in the camp that night. It was getting late in the day now and it would be getting dusk soon. They must press on before the gloom enveloped them and made the climb down even more dangerous. They took it in turns to descend each step moving down one at a time. Soon they came to an especially big gap where one boy had to hang off of the branch he was on by his arms and elbows before his feet touched the branch below. This he did before easing his grip from the branch above and carefully gaining a hold on the trunk. He then had to move aside to allow his friend down. By this time Helmut had forced the branches even further apart and was sweating as much moisture as he could. The second child was a little shorter than the first so was hanging with a less secure hold on the top branch but in doing so was just getting contact with his feet. His friend gave verbal instructions of how to place his feet to find the firm part of the branch below. The second child was loosening his grasp of the upper bough when Helmut acted. He moved both boughs horizontally away from each other leaving the child unbalanced, his grip slipped from the upper branch and he fell forwards. He tried to twist and fall onto the bough that his feet had gained some¬ position on but his footing was lost. He was falling past this bough when in an instant his friend threw himself forward and caught hold of him. In doing so he had given up his own foothold and they fell together straddling the branch they had just left. This saved them. As they clung together, each the other side of the slippery bow they cursed and blew deep breaths of fear, anxiety and relief. Gradually they found foot holds on the branches below and carefully released each other to gain their independent grip on the tree boughs. Helmut's trap had been sprung and failed and he was unable to further change the course of their decent to the lower branches and the ground. Once there they compared bruises and scratches as well as declaring their gratitude to each other and mutual relief.

They walked the short distance to their camp chatting excitedly about their adventure brushing aside the cool leafy fronds being stroked over their heads by every tree they passed. Indeed they didn't appear to notice the unusual frequency of contact with soft leaves brushing soothingly over them, instead they wiped them away in an indifferent air of people absorbed in exiting conversation. They stayed up late that night finishing the small stash of food they had accumulated from their picnics before settling down to a soothing sleep.

The next morning the boys went back to the farm and there broke out much activity in the Copse. In fact an observer might have thought a storm was blowing through it such was the movement and commotion. The trees were in an uproar with much groaning and moaning being addressed about and directly to Helmut. All of the leaves were chattering and those who had witnessed the events were passing the details to those who had not. As the story was retold to an ever increasing circle of trees so the details were embellished such that at the edge of the copse one trees leaves heard of a tale where a boy fell 3 times his own height past all other branches but that a second flew up from the ground to catch him. All who heard the tale were informed of Helmut’s actions in this matter and every tree there cursed the Elm.

After conferring on the events the trees decided that Helmut must be punished and though it is extremely unusual for trees to act against each other (they are normally exceedingly mutually supportive for the general good of all trees} they were determined that this would not go unpunished. For his part Helmut protested his innocence and that the other trees had no rights to judge him or punish him but he was shouted (or rather groaned) down, It was decided that he would take a days lashing and three weeks isolation. Therefore for the rest of that day every tree surrounding Helmut that could reach him caught as much air movement as possible before accelerating this movement so as to cause their branches to whip across those of Helmut’s. Although each tree acting this way would suffer themselves, the collective result of all the five trees who could reach him doing this for such a duration was that he suffered much foliage loss and branch damage. Helmut also had one major bough broken badly and this was hanging down showing a painful exposed wound for all to see. The following isolation involved all trees within a circle equal to the distance reached by Helmut’s top most twig were he to fall, drinking as much water from the ground as possible thus starving Helmut in the centre. This was a severe punishment and would certainly cause Helmut to lose the rest of his foliage and hamper his chances of repairing his wounded bough. In fact in such weakened condition disease could enter Helmut through this wound and that could prove very serious indeed.

Within the next two days it was clear that the boys friend had left the farm and that he was alone once more. The summer was over now and cooler days were bringing cold nights and Hamther’s warmth was seen less frequently and for shorter times each day. Over the next few weeks the boy visited often and would still play but not with the enjoyment of before and nowhere near as energetically as he did whilst his friend was with him. During this time all the trees were keen to exude good feelings to him and offer safe climbing and shelter. Helmut meanwhile was nearly bare of leaves and much weakened. As far as his twisted mind was concerned this was another example of humans causing Elms suffering. All the trees were feeling the cold now and George with his friends were feeling older and tired. They had achieved a warm russet tinged glow and felt magnificent in this colouration. However they felt weaker and were not inclined to chatter so late into the night nor to move so readily to play in the wind. George knew, as all leaves did, that at some time their tree would choose to release them so that they may float down to their heaven to give up this life and become part of the next generation of growing things in the copse. These thoughts did not excite them nor worry them, as it was a painless inevitability when they would be set free.

On a particularly cold day the child returned to the Copse. He didn't play long in the stream as it was dark and cold but soon moved into the trees. Many were already losing their leaves and he played with the fallen highly coloured leaves as if they were friends. He would scuff through them noisily delighting in wading through this clean crunchy fluid. He would make huge piles of them and throw himself into to them and roll around sometimes laughing aloud.

In his playful wanderings he came to the area where Arbuthnot stood, an area he had avoided since his encounter with Helmut. With the sparseness of leaves now on the trees the boy could not fail to see though to the stark form of Helmut, even more sinister now with the greying sky visible through his bare limbs. The boy wandered over to Helmut's pathetic form, all around him trees were' whispering to take care of the vengeful wounded tree. Some leaves even broke their silence and without the cover of wind spoke to the boy to take care but of course he couldn't hear nor understand them. He came to Helmut and looked up into the tree before kicking the trunk in a petulant act of dislike. The boy then turned away and looked at Arbuthnot, glowing red and golden in the weakening light.

Helmut was aware of the boy's presence and had watched him approach. This boy was the cause of Helmut’s disgraced bare form and withered bough which had slowly pulled itself painfully from Helmut’s trunk little by little with every passing wind. In fact it was as if the wind was sent from Harnther to further punish him by tortuously rending the limb slowly from him. Helmut in defiance had refused to yield the branch and had diverted must needed resources to it in a bid to save it and prove his superiority over those who sought to punish him. Although weak and failing be still bore a deep hatred for the boy and the boy's kick, although barely felt was the final insult. As he saw the boy turn he used all his remaining will to swing the branch, which had been supporting the stricken limb, away. With its full dead weight falling onto the remaining torn connection to the trunk the bough could no longer support itself and it ripped itself away from the tree down onto the boy below. Helmut's groan of pain as the branch ripped from him turned to a brief howl of spiteful triumph before returning to a weak moan. His further pathetic sounds were drowned by further judgements from the other trees.

The fury of the trees only abated whilst the farmer came to find the boy. He came late after dusk with a storm lantern as he had heard the movement of the trees and presumed a storm to be present within them. When he got to the boy his eyes filled and his sobs were the only sound to be heard. He registered the fallen limb that had taken the boy’s life and the large amount of tree debris around the deadened tree he was under. He presumed that a freak storm wind had caused the debris to fall as well as the broken bough which killed the boy whilst he sheltered there perhaps. He carried the boy off into the night as the trees stayed silent in deep respect and cried to themselves for the child.

Two days later the farmer returned to the copse that the boy loved so much and dug a deep grave underneath the boughs of Thooda who although 'having lost most of her leaves still presented a comforting image of a sheltering area reaching out to those approaching. On the third day the boys’ body was brought to the grave along with the farmer, his wife, the tall and the portly man who had brought the child earlier in the year as well as a man with a white collar who spoke soothing comforting words over the boys grave. The boy was placed gently into the ground and although no rain fell that day moisture ran freely from the remaining leaves and branches of the trees surrounding the mourning group. The farmer refilled the grave covering the boy's body and set a stone tablet at the head of it. The humans said a few more words quietly and then departed with the farmer's wife sobbing and wailing and the others silent.

George and Gregory were the last of the leaves along with Sara from their original groups and they too were dripping onto the floor below. George felt sad and tired, he knew his time was up and whereas he knew that one summer was his full and expected life span he also knew enough about humans to understand that this boy had been robbed of the main part of his. George's next actions were instinctive and were matched by many other leaves around him. He stopped drawing on the life sustaining drink from the branch he was on and extended himself as much as his stiffened body would allow to catch the chill breeze blowing. He watched Gregory depart and he and Sara sang their song to him as he went. The same breeze was just sufficient to detach George from Arbuthnot. He was free and floating down, hearing parts of the falling song from the few remaining leaves and he was surrounded by this sound and by many other leaves floating down with him. With his remaining and failing strength he formed his leaf edges to ride the breeze in a spiraling circle and landed on the damp earth that covered the boy. He came to rest near the stone tablet and although George couldn't read the farmers carved words on the boys gravestone which stated that the copse would be henceforth dedicated and maintained safe forever in the boys memory, he was comforted by his position sheltering the boy as he, along with his friends, too passed from this world to the next.

The End