The Autumn Leaves

An old man once worked in the garden of the local graveyard. He pruned and cared the trees in summer, and in the fall he would rake the plentiful yellow and brown leaves that fell from the branches. There was one ancient big tree at the border of the gate to the graveyard, and it shed more leaves than all of the rest put together. Each fall, since he was a young man he would rake the leaves of this tree, and dispose of them on the compost heap. The tree in turn fed him for many long seasons, by the earnings he made from his job and his labor. He cared for the ancient tree, and the ancient tree cared for him. He worked on in this garden tending the trees and lawn of the graveyard until he was an old man. One day he himself passed away, and was buried in the cemetery close to the gate, and his beloved old friend the ancient tree. Each fall the leaves would tumble from the tree unto his resting place and grave, gently settling in the light breeze, and somewhere out there the old man was smiling. A new young gardener was appointed, and now he tended to the garden and trees, just like the old man had done. And the endless circle of life and nature kept repeating itself endlessly; like the eternal turning of the seasons.