"Okay, Mama!" Maddy climbed down from the low-hanging branch and stepped onto the spongy soil. She ran onto the grass, stopped and wheeled around. The tree was gloriously red and Maddy was in love with the colour. When she climbed onto the branch and stood up, the sunlight filtering through the canopy of leaves turned the whole world a luscious, rich red. If only her Mama would stop looking through the window every other minute to check up on her, she could bask under the tree all she wanted.
Instead, Maddy walked along underneath the branches, one arm stretched behind her, her fingers bouncing between the fence pickets, her eyes upward. Without really thinking about it, she brought her hand away from the fence, reached up into the leaves and picked one. She brought it up to her face and twirled the stem in her fingers, letting the leaf feather her cheek. Maddy smiled. She picked another leaf, and another. Soon there were leaves tucked behind her ears, entwined in her hair, threaded through every button hole in her coat. She had a fistful of leaves and she was looking down at herself, wondering where to put them all. Finally she decided to plant each tiny stem into the soil around the base of the tree. Maddy started to create a tiny, Japanese maple-leaf garden and stood back to admire her work. Who lived in this tiny garden?
"Maddy, honey! Time for lunch. Come inside now please!"
"Okay!" Maddy looked at all the leaves still left in her hands and considered scattering them on the ground, but the wind was starting to blow and she couldn't bear to abandon them. So she stuffed them in her pockets and down her shirt and ran toward the house. The leaves tickled and Maddy laughed. "Come on you guys, you can have some of my soup." As she climbed the stairs to go inside, Maddy looked back at her tree. It waved at her and she waved back.
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