Unwilling to Fall

Written by Heather Joy Richards

The last leaf lay on the branch waiting to descend upon the earth and breathe the last breath of fall.
She had seen the spring of her life then it's summer and the autumn, now it was the winter and her time was near.
She was not ready to dry up and become part of the earth.
She was not ready to start the cycle again.
So there she lay softly on the branch of my tree.
Unwilling to fall.
I watched her for several days, wavering in the wind, hanging on to her home she had known all her life.
I sat and wondered if that would be me when I reach my final days.
Will I be ready to leave my world behind and start another cycle?
Or like the last leaf of fall, will I fear the winter of my life and hang on.
Unwilling to fall.