once upon a time there was a pear tree by a pond
in the fall it dropped its leaves one by one
and while it cried for its loss
the dragonflies came to play tag
and the mother sparrows taught their babies to dart in between
and the pixies used the heaps to build houses in
and when the winter came, the mice borrowed fireflies and had council rings under the sheltering leaf piles
and the worms wore long sleepy smiles at all the delicious earthy food the leaves would turn into
and the baby leaf buds grew quietly and comforted the pear tree and reassured it that
there would always be more, there would always be life
the caterpillars rustled and nodded peacefully in their cocoons and promised to teach the new leaves all there was to know about flying when the time came
and the drowsy owls thought that everyone complained too much all the time and should just enjoy life while it was there.
in the end, they were all right
the end