Leaf

I stand under the tree, staring up into the leaves which are trembling and quivering. I wonder if they are terrified of the leap they are about to make. One by one they hurl themselves from the branches, spinning and tumbling through the air. Months ago, they were a bright green, warmed by the bright summer sun. But now they are all different, a spectrum of red, orange, and yellow. And now, instead of wearing a healthy shine, they are dry and crackly, crunching under foot. And then there is the smell. A breeze ruffles the branches, and the smell seems to swirl around me. A sweet, warm smell. The mixture of dry leaves and ripe fruit, it is what I have come to know as the smell of autumn.