The Leaf Birds
On a high hill, a tall and sturdy tree was growing. A happy little bird lived in the tree.
It was probably this past spring when the little bird and the tree first met, and she made her home there. The tree and the bird quickly became good friends. Every day, the joyful bird would fly out and return with a basketful of fun and interesting news. She would chirp away, telling the tree all about it, making the tree laugh cheerfully. From time to time, the tree would clap its leaves together, like a child, exclaiming, “How fun, how fun!”
The bird asked, “Tree, I talk endlessly every day. Aren’t you annoyed?”
The tree smiled and said, “Not at all! I love listening. The joy your stories bring me is beyond count. Haha, I love snoring, clapping, and shouting—does that bother you?”
“Not at all! Without hearing you, I can’t even fall asleep,” replied the bird.
The tree laughed, its large branches rustling and shaking.
Time passed quickly.
One day, the bird hadn’t returned home by late evening. The tree waited and waited, but there was no sign of the bird. The tree wondered: Did she forget the way home, or did something happen?
The tree stretched its neck and gazed into the distance, calling the bird’s name over and over. The sun rose and set, and days passed, but the bird still didn’t return.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8… The tree counted on its fingers. More than 20 days passed, and the bird still hadn’t come home. The tree missed her, and its leaves slowly turned yellow.
There was a feather from the little bird left in her nest. The tree looked at it, thinking every day about the happy times spent with the bird. Autumn arrived, and the tree thought, “I can’t wait any longer. I need to go find her.” But where to look? The tree didn’t know. It gently lifted the bird’s feather and kissed it with every leaf: “I’ll turn each of my leaves into a little bird.”
As soon as the words were spoken, a miracle happened. Every leaf on the tree flapped its wings. Whoosh! All the leaves, like little birds, spread their wings and flew into the distance.
On the high hill, only a bare tree trunk remained.
Months passed, and the leaf birds finally found the little bird in a rocky cave by the sea. It turned out she was taking care of some injured baby birds.
The following spring, a large flock of leaf birds, along with the beautiful little bird, flew back to the high hill.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
