Changes

            In a quiet grove, far, far away from any road or building, a tiny oakling twisted and curved its trunk back to peer up at its giant father oak and inquire, “What’s happening to me, dad?” “You’re changing, son,” was his simple reply. “But why?” The papa tree didn’t really know what to say, so he said, “Because you have to prepare for the future.” The oakling relaxed his miniature trunk and looked down at the ground, thinking. He had no clue what his dad meant with such a fuzzy answer. “But why can’t I just stay green, dad? Why am I all orange and yellow?”
             The big oak was silent for a moment as he thought of the technical reasons of why his little boy was turning odd colors: the air was becoming colder, the sun was staying less time during the day, and the chlorophyll inside each of his leaves wasn’t able to produce as much food as it was during the sunny summer months, therefore causing the bright green pigment of the chlorophyll to die out and give rise to other pigments present in the leaves. His son wouldn’t understand any of that.

            The father oak’s deep voice was steady and reassuring, “All of your leaves are going to fall off your branches soon, son. It’s a sad time, because leaves are what make us so beautiful and elegant. Our leaves turn different colors to give us one last bit of joy and beauty before they fall.” “So I’ll be naked?!” the oakling squeaked out as he brought all of his leafy branches closer to his trunk. “Yes, you’ll be more naked than the jaybird that made a nest in my topmost branches, but has now gone away for the winter months.”

            The oakling shuddered as a cool breeze blew through his leaves and then turned back to his papa. “But why aren’t you turning all funny colors, dad?” Despite the massive oak’s understanding of how his leaves were closer to the sun and that he was actually capturing the precious energy before it could reach the tiny tree residing in his shade, he still didn’t know how to properly explain it all to his little boy. After a couple minutes, he softly touched the top of his tiny orange-and-yellow boy with his bright green leaves and said, “It is going to get extremely cold in the coming weeks. So that you don’t have to feel the cold, you’re going to go to sleep soon, for a very, very long time. Longer than you have ever slept before, or can even imagine. Many of the animals you have seen in the forest will do the same, too, like the bears and squirrels. My leaves will not change and fall until you are deep in slumber, because you will need me to watch over you and shelter you while you are so naked and cold.”

            The little oakling became very solemn and he widened his eyes as he whispered, “Will it hurt to be so naked and cold?” Without hesitation, the father replied, “Son, I will cover you and keep you warm until I have to go to sleep. The next thing you will remember is waking up to birds chirping, a cool breeze, the sun shining, and a new set of beautiful, gorgeous leaves budding on every one of your little branches.”

            Smiling at the thought of the promise of new green leaves, the oakling looked down the length of one of his branches and admired all the different colors. A breeze blew and broke one of the leaves at the tip of his branch free. The little oakling watched as the gust of wind carried his leaf a few feet away from him and gently placed it on the ground. With a big yawn, the oakling gazed at his dad and said, “I love you, dad.” The father oak shifted his branches to shield the oakling from stronger gusts of wind and said, “I love you, too, son.”