Advanced Essay #1: Fall Leaves

Fall Leaves

by Ona Brown

I always looked forward to Summer when I was younger, it was the most highly anticipated season for a young 12 yearold girl. Time for long days at the beach that leave you two shades darker than the shade you had when you came. Numerous visits to amusement parks. Having so much fun that you put your summer reading off, to do two weeks before school starts. Summer break felt so long, halfway through I would start to miss school. As I got older what felt like a year was gone in a blink of an eye. As I got older I started to anticipate the fall in summer. It’s something about Fall that makes everything feel more homey and close. It’s Not too cold and not too hot. Not too many rain showers to wash your worries away, just a silent wind that speaks to you with no words. It’s something about the warm orange, yellow and brown colors and the way the trees let us know it’s okay to change. It’s something about how the trees aren’t scared to be naked and how they don’t fear Winter coming soon. Fall made me see things so much clearer at a young age. It help me to realize that my age had nothing to do with maturity, rather it was my experiences.

My mom and I used to go to Linvilla orchards every year around October. But this particular time we decided to bring a couple of friends to tag along and share in the Fall activities. I loved getting on the Hayrides. It was the first thing my mind was focused on upon arriving at the Orchard. I made my way to line full of anxious faces, while using my right hand to guide my mom. I used all my weight anchoring my feet into the ground and pulling her arm with my upper body. She hated when I did that. She scream “Stop or we won’t go until it’s time to leave!” I stopped immediately, although every step she took I couldn’t help but wish she was running. I tried to focus on something else, like looking at all the small faces that looked just like the bigger faces they were with. Finally we made it to the line which was so long. After one minute of waiting I became anxious. A stern look from my mother reminded me to be patient. As we walked up the steps to enter the tractor, the corners of my mouth rose. We would sit close making it easy to see each others breath. We breathed in unison, small white clouds formed as we exhaled then they disappeared into the air, never to be seen again. As the farmer made his way through the field maze, taking different twist and turns he pointed out the earth's cultivation. From the small apples to the tall stalks of corn. I never understood how the small insecure seeds could become the big confident crops that laid before my eyes. I wondered if it was how long it took them to grow or their environment that made them ripe?

After the Hayride we picked sweet ruby red apples that showed the reflection of our little brown faces when we looked into them. Later we bought popsicle sticks and make candy apples that I lost my tooth to that night. But Every sweet bite made it worth it. The tooth fairy confiscated my tooth and replaced it with five dollars just to remind me change was okay that night. Soon a new adult tooth would be growing in the narrow empty space.

I know for a fact Fall was forcing me to grow up. The leaves pointed to the things I didn’t see before. The cold wind shook my body and told me to stay awake to not miss a thing. I truly started to understand why knowledge is pain and why it hurts to know. Why did knowing more have to mean you were growing up? I felt like I was out growing my friends. We were around that same age but our mindsets were totally different. The things I knew, they were just starting to understand and some weren't even starting. I hated when my mom told me to act my age. I wasn’t fresh, she just said I “worried about things I couldn’t control and I needed to just be a kid.” But can you really act your age? In my opinion, you can act like your experiences. People’s lives and what they are taught and see vary. I wanted her to see that you could be 40 years old and still haven’t grown up.

I remember that fall when I taught my brother that age had no correlation with growing up. The October air kissed my cheek passionately. My brown hoodie held my body snug. My heart was beating fast. Confusion and suspense filled my tiny mind as I held his rough callused hands. We walked down the steps at a fast pace. As we reached the bottom, he said “I’ll race you to the end of the block.”

I took off running, letting the wind caress my soft brown hair. I’m losing my     breath but I’m almost at the corner. Don’t give up *pant Don’t *pant. You can win this! I made it to the corner and came to an abrupt stop. I turned around and seen a frown plastered upon his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked

“You cheated, ” He said.

For some odd reason instead of arguing how I won fair and square, I said

“No, what’s really wrong?”

He looked at me, like he didn’t expect me to utter those words out my small  mouth. I knew there was something else going on. I looked back at our house that was in the distance, now that we were at the corner. I heard a high pitch voice that sounded similar to my moms.

As soon as he caught my eyes and see how I was paying too much attention to the noise coming from the house, he said “Come on, we’re going to the park.”

As we crossed the street I couldn’t help but think about the noises.

*Ring *Ring. His phone was ringing. He stop walking and let me get a little ways in front of him. I was trying my best to block out all the extra noise so I could listen to his responses to figure out who he could be talking to.

“Yes”

“Are You Okay?”

“Yes, We’re fine”

“I took her to the park”

“Okay, call me if you need me.”

*Click

“Ona what’s wrong?” he said.

“Was that mommy?” I replied

He looked up then replied, “Yes.”

“What’s going on Brendon?” I asked

“You’re too young to understand lil sis.”

“Am I too young to understand that you’re trying distract me from whatever is going on at the house ?”

He smirked, “You think you’re so smart.”

It was his turn to be distracted.

“Look there goes a ball, First to 10!” I shouted.
He said, “You’re going to lose.”

I gripped the ball in my hands and threw it up in the air surprisingly making it into the net. “Who’s going to lose again?” I said with a grin resting on my face.  

He smiled so big that even the sun was no match for its shine.  

Life told me to grow up. I used to tell life, “I was too young that It wasn’t time.” But then life finally convinced me that age was just a number.