Once upon a time, in a distant forest lived a small green leaf.
Since he was born, he wondered intensely about this world.
How and why he lived there, and how is this world made,
and why be just a tiny leaf and not something more majestic
like those trees, he saw proudly standing around him.
You see, the little leaf thought it was just a little, vulnerable leaf and nothing else.
Time passed, and the leaf grew and grew. Summer had come for good.
The rays of the Sun warmed it, and he enjoyed the big days and the cool nights.
It was then that he began to notice the other leaves around him.
- But well, he said, where were they all?
You see, he was so busy with himself and his progress that he had not
even noticed the other leaves on the branch.
Not to be outdone, of course, he was growing up.
All of his attention was focused on himself and admiring those big trees that he considered so majestic. After all, he was just a little humble leaf.
As he began to know his neighbours and talk to them,
he discovered they shared much in common.
They also wondered about life and its meaning and how happy they would be
if they looked like the tall trees.
Maybe it was that sudden summer rain and the strong wind that blew.
Or maybe the rainbow that came out right after.
The little leaf suddenly woke up from its slumber and saw!
He saw all the other leaves, saw the branches and the wide strong trunk!
He saw the roots that were rooted deep in the earth! And he saw the top!
How high that top was! No matter how hard he tried to follow it with his gaze, he did not entirely succeed!
This spectacle was the most beautiful he had ever seen in his life!
He could not believe in his eyes!
A shiver went through him, and with him, all the leaves of the tree shook.
Very soon, the whole tree was pulsating in an internal rhythm from the roots to the top!
The tree became the forest.
Alexandra Sotiropoulou