When the Leaves Fall Early, a fable

Near the Inglewood river, grew a large oak tree. Its leaves started falling off early this year, and by mid-summer the tree was nearly bare. The birds who lived in the tree gathered together. “What does this mean?” Worried one. “We are all doomed!” Exclaimed another. “Let’s not worry yet.” Replied the wise, old one. “Perhaps there is something more to this than we know.” The two worried birds nodded their heads. “Of course there’s something more to this we don’t know!” Mocked the proud, beautiful one. “And I know how to can fix it.” “Will we have to move?” Asked the worried one. “I don’t want to move! I like it here, and it’s too early to fly south for the winter.” Continued the other worried one. “Yes, much too early. The bugs are just starting to get fat.” Agreed the first. The proud, beautiful one could see how nervous they were. “No, no, no! We don’t have to go anywhere! The solution is simple, we must take the leaves from the other trees, and attach them to ours!” “That will never work!” Exclaimed the wise, old one. No bird will give you of his tree for free, just like you will not give of your bugs for free.” “And what do you know old, foolish one? I don’t hear any of your solutions.” “To the other trees!” The worried ones exclaimed over the wise, old one.

The wise, old one watched as the two worried ones flew from tree to tree, trying to steal the other birds’ branches and leaves. As they did so, the neighboring birds fended them off. “These are mine!” They would say. “Get your own!” After a time, the worried ones came back, defeated. “Alas, we are doomed. The rain will beat down, and we will have no shelter from the sun. We have no choice but to move!” “I wouldn’t worry just yet,” Assured the proud, beautiful one. “I have an idea,” Whispered the wise, old one. “Why don’t we ask the neighboring birds if they know why our leaves have fallen.” “Yes! We will ask the snakes why our leaves have fallen! They are much closer than our neighboring birds, and we must hurry, before the rain sets in.” Before the wise, old one could retort, the worried ones had begun celebrating with each other. “Fine, if you won’t listen, then I will go to the neighbor birds and ask myself.” The wise, old one declared. As he stretched his wings, the proud, beautiful one pecked the wise, old one’s feathers. “Ouch!” He exclaimed. “You mustn’t go to them, they will hurt you because we tried taking their leaves!” The proud, beautiful one reasoned. “You stay here, and I will talk to the snakes.”

The proud, beautiful one flew to the lowest branch of the oak, and called out. The snakes slithered towards the edge of the tree, listening. “Friends, our leaves have fallen off our tree and we are worried the weather will come soon. Do you know the cause of our misfortune?” The snakes, sensing their concern, replied back. “We do not know why your leaves have fallen, but we know how you may fix it. Instead of your neighbors’ green leaves, why not try to attach these brown leaves?” “That will not work!” Exclaimed the wise, old one. “And why not?” Asked the king snake. “Just like I cannot fly with a fallen feather, I do not think a fallen leaf will work like a green leaf.” “Do you know why your leaves have fallen?” Asked the king snake to the wise, old one. “No, I do not.” He admitted. “Then why not try our idea?” Asked the king snake. “I do not think we can trust these snakes.” Said the wise, old one to the other birds. “Never-mind him!” The young, beautiful one said to the two worried ones. “We must hurry!” And the three birds went to work, gathering brown leaves from the ground and carrying them to the tree top. Finally, after many hours, half their tree was covered in brown leaves.

“I don’t think this is enough.” Noticed the worried one. “No, not at all. This is only half our tree,” Agreed the other. The proud, beautiful one began to be suspicious himself, but he kept quiet. “Look at how tired you are!” Exclaimed the wise, old one. “It may have been quicker to ask the snake, but now you’ve depleted all your energy with work. Perhaps our neighbors know the cause of all this trouble. We may never know unless we ask. And besides, it won’t take much energy, not as much as you’ve already used. And if they don’t know, then at least we would have tried!” The proud, beautiful one was about to agree with him, but then the king snake interrupted. “Look how close you are to finishing! You’re almost there! You don’t want to quit and give up now, do you?” Asked the king snake. “No! We mustn’t give up!” Roared the proud, beautiful one. “We must finish what we started!” The worried ones concurred. For the next hour, the three birds flew to the ground, gathered brown leaves, and brought them to the top as the snakes waited. When the birds were too weak to keep flying, the king snake encouraged them further. “Only a few more! You’re almost done!” While the three birds were on the ground gathering leaves, the king snake and his friends attacked. The three birds were too tired to fly away, and were eaten.

The wise, old one wept for his friends in the naked oak tree. He wept so loudly the neighboring birds overheard and came to see what was wrong. “My friends were tricked and eaten by the snakes. And now I must die alone!” The neighboring birds looked at each other. “The same snakes that have been poisoning the trees?” Asked one of the neighboring birds. He could see the wise, old one was confused. “Your tree, like many others, is without green leaves. The snakes have been poisoning the water, and killing trees so squirrels might come down and look for nuts. Here, let us give you some of our food, and you can live in our tree.” And so, the wise, old one lived the remainder of his days without his closest friends in the company of strangers.