Finally she felt that long awaited freedom, and she flew. What a pleasure it was, a feeling of boundless happiness and joy! She was spinning with her head thrown back, singing and laughing out loud. She absolutely didn’t care if
anyone could see or hear her. She was gliding in the transparent, slightly frosty air, clothed in all amber yellow, with her arms wide open, imagining that she was dancing a wonderful ballroom dance.
The season was over. Most of her friends had already flown away, each going their own way. The parting was sudden and sad accompanied by the harsh rattle of cold rain. She was much luckier than her peers. She was leaving on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and nature stood still,
enchanted.
She veered over toward a small pond containing a little rickety wooden bridge. So often had she been looking at it from above and dreaming of flying one day over it just like that, free like a bird. She flipped on her back, and put her arms behind her head. Serenely, she gazed at the sky and let the wind carry her.
Suddenly she caught notice of him. First, she saw his eyes staring at her and following her every move. He was gliding above her, all in red, and even blinded
her for a moment by the sunbeam that reflected off of him. She halted in surprise. He was charmed by her childish spontaneity and true expression of happiness that was tempting him so much.
They couldn’t take their eyes off of each other and quickly began moving in closer feeling an impulse of attraction. Their hearts welled up with joy. The wind grasped hold of her, and she started rapidly spinning trying not to lose the view of his eyes. Alas, their eyes and hands met, and the whole
world disappeared leaving only their eyes filled with boundless tenderness and delight.
His fingers were warm, and that warmth passed along her arms and shoulders producing a fiery wave that broke into her heart. She couldn’t believe that she would fall in love on this wonderful day. Her heart was screaming, “Yes!”.
At first they exchanged timid smiles, then started giggling, and then laughed out loud as hard as they could. They were so happy that they had met each other and that
their paths had crossed right here, at this very moment and that nothing could pull them apart. They simply did not want to think about the future nor their destiny. They were just spinning, holding each other’s hands and looking into each other’s eyes. The whole world concentrated on these adored eyes. They were singing and laughing while slowly drifting down towards the ground.
The Goddess of Nature was looking with sorrow and fondness at the two fallen leaves, a yellow one and a red
one, dancing in the air with their stems intertwined. She was happy that, at this last moment, she gave them love; but she was sad, too, because this love wasn’t meant to last. Their magnificent dance would be over as soon as they touched the ground. She blew a gust of wind on them to prolong their happiness. They kept spinning and looking at each other acknowledging that there was no bigger joy for them in the whole world.
Soon they quietly fell down all the while cuddling and gently
hugging each other. A new life was about to begin for them, the life of contemplating the beauty that surrounded them. They felt warm and safe together.
The Goddess was crying, crying with tenderness and joy that despite her they were happy in their love and understanding of wisdom that just had revealed itself to them.
By Julia Valenskaya
