Leif and Maisie

It was early in the morning, one fine spring day, and the sky was overcast threatening rain. The birds were twittering

to one another speculating as to the weather, and the crickets were beginning to quiet down and settle into a gentle slumber as they succumbed to a soft glow rising from the east. The leaves were beginning to awaken with the spring, having been dormant for the winter and now ready to get busy making food for its host.

A slight drizzle began trickling down from the foggy grey sky. The fine mist covered the earth in a blanket of moisture and was quickly absorbed by the small green leaf buds high in the trees as well as the dry soil below. As the leaf buds stretched and unfolded, welcoming the rain, one small green leaf yawned and gazed downward, catching sight of something he thought to be extraordinary!

A small patch of white webbing peeking from beneath the pine straw drunk the water in from seemingly nowhere, and then UP!! a small red capped mushroom popped and glanced around.

“Halloooooo down there!” pipped the small leaf bud, straining to catch the attention of the red mushroom.

The small mushroom looked wondrously about, trying to locate the source of the greeting, and checking to see if she was being addressed. She did recall the words, “down there,” and so lifted her eyes up to see a small, flat, green thing wriggling about above her.

“Oh! Hallo!” the mushroom replied, and the small green leaf bud curled up to show she had indeed found the culprit of the conversation.

“What is your name?” asked the leaf excitedly, opening and curling back and forth in tremendous joy at having made an acquaintance.

“I’m Maisie, and I’m a mushroom! What is your name?” The mushroom squinted to be sure she could recognize the leaf and tried to memorize each detail of her new friend.

“I’m Leif…and well…I’m a leaf!” And the small leaf chuckled at the irony of having a name so closely resembling what he was.

“Aahhhhh, well met!” The little mushroom responded with pleasure and so began the unlikely friendship between a leaf and a mushroom.

Each morning before the sunrise, the mushroom would awaken her friend with a soft,

“Psst! Hey! Leif! Let’s not miss the sunrise!”

and they would greet the great sun together and watch as it slowly made its daily trek from over the pond to above their heads, then back over down to the other side of the woods. They spent the happiest of times talking and laughing together, and ended each day with a loving “good night, dear friend,” as the stars would begin to appear and the moon would make its own ascent into the sky.

They each worked hard at their jobs, Leif using the sun’s light to create food for the Great Oak Tree and Maisie supplying nutrients as well as water to the tree’s roots. Both worked together for the Great Oak and though they each had different responsibilities, and were very different one from the other, they enjoyed each other’s company and connected in a way the Great Oak had never seen before.

As spring turned to summer, and the days got moister and hotter, Maisie’s cap grew and swelled open like a giant umbrella and Lief grew to become a large, thick, and glossy green leaf! These were the days that they worked the hardest and come nightfall they were both incredibly tired. These hot summer days, the locusts were so loud they could hardly hear each other, and at night the frog croaks were a symphony that usually drowned out their conversations. They would fall asleep early from exhaustion and whisper to each other in the wee morning hours to catch up.

As summer ended, and the sun’s rays were leaving earlier each evening, Leif began to become even more tired. The edges of his body were beginning to change color, and this frightened him. Instead of the large, strong, dark glossy green he was, he became tired, weak and began to lose his green color. In fact, he had begun to change to a deep golden color, and his stem was frail, and he was struggling to hold on to the branch that had been his home since birth. He called down to Maisie, his dearest friend, and told her his fears.

“Maisie, I am so afraid!” Leif cried out to his mushroom friend one evening, over the croaking frogs and singing crickets and newly rustling breeze.

“Oh Leif! Do not be afraid! I am here with you!” and Maisie smiled up at him with her reassuring smile, and Leif felt comforted and was able to rest that evening.

Inside though, Maisie was also afraid. I do not know what to do! She thought to herself. And while Leif slept, she consulted the Great Oak Tree.

“Dear Great Oak Tree, my friend Leif is very scared, and to be honest I am also scared for him. What should I do?”

The Great Oak tree thought deeply about this for several long minutes. He had never encountered such a friendship before, and their daily chats delighted him immensely. He knew what would happen as the seasons changed once again, and how different life would be for Leif after all his hard work from the spring and summer. He thought also of poor Maisie, how sad and lonely she would be if she watched Leif float far away, and he began to have an idea…

“Maisie,” the Great Oak tree began,

“Leif will embark on a new journey soon. He will no longer be able to sustain me because the sun is not as strong during this part of the year and he will be weakened as well from the lack of the sun. He will let go of the branch that has been his home and float away across the woods as a reward for all his hard work. Where he will travel, I do not know, however you have the ability in you to watch him and follow him. You can grow wherever there is water—connected to your family of fungi and stay with him and be a comfort to each other. It will be a most grand adventure, Maisie and I give you my blessing to accompany him. Thank you for all you have done for Leif, and for me.”

With this, the Great Oak tree went silent, and Maisie trembled with apprehension and worry. Me, leave my home among the shade and roots of the Great Oak? How could I? And yet, how could I watch my friend leave me and travel all alone, fearful to the very end?

And with that, Maisie released her spores into the air, and began to shrink and shrivel into herself.

A former shadow of her once plump figure greeted Lief the next morning and reassured him that everything would be okay. “I have a plan, Leif! A grand adventure for the two of us! Do not be afraid!”

As Leif helplessly watched his friend all but disappear, the wind blew forcefully, and he clung as hard as he could to his branch. He knew that he could not hold on forever, and the next morning when he did not hear Maisie’s cheerful greeting, and the wind blew that day, he let go in defeat.

Leif’s body had begun to shrivel some, and his short lived bright golden hue had begun to turn dingy and brown. The wind lifted him up and gently floated him away from the Great Oak tree (who he thought he heard whisper “Thank you” as he drifted past) and beyond the pond he had watched the sun rise over each morning. His fear changed to awe as he continued his journey with the wind to another patch of trees, and he landed gently near a pile of straw under the shade of another Great Tree. Spent from his journey, his last thoughts were that of wishing he could share his adventure with Maisie, and he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The pitter patter of rain awakened Leif and it felt cool and refreshing on his drying form. He closed his eyes and visualized the morning routine that he greatly missed and thought he could even hear Maisie’s voice waking him up to greet the sun before it rose.

“Leif!”

“Leif!”

The gentle lull of Maisie’s familiar voice made him stir.

Leif opened his eyes, confused. How could that be? He stretched and unfurled his rumpled form as best he could and there, before his eyes – the most wonderful sight he could behold! Maisie beamed down at him in sheer joy; she had popped up right beside him and she leaned her shining red cap over to gently touch her best friend.

“Oh Maisie! Am I dreaming? Is that really you?” Leif quivered in angst and relief.

“Yes, Leif! I am here with you and am SO glad to be beside you! I have never gotten to see you up close, and here we are—at last!” Maisie sighed these words breathlessly, and enchanted, fell asleep from all her exertions.

The following days were filled with such a pleasurable companionship that all the life flourishing around them watched in awe. The mighty wind began to pick up again, and Maisie requested the wind let her know which way He was going to carry her dearest friend. The wind honored her request, just as entranced by her friendship with the leaf as all others, and she was able to meet up with Leif as he was lifted and carried all across the forest, the sky, and even over a large lake, where he landed beside a fallen log.

This was Lief’s second journey, and as he was carried away from his lifelong friend he called to her, “Please find me!” and flew many miles above the land and saw the transformation of the leaves in all the Great Trees from green to burgundy and fiery red, to orange and yellow and brown. The beauty of it made him proud to be the golden brown hue he was, and he landed with a hard thump in a puddle near a fallen log. Leif hoped against hope that he would see Maisie again, and not seeing her that first day once he landed, he was sorely disappointed.

The next morning, when he awoke, the puddle was gone, and beneath him was none other than Maisie!

“Hallooooo, dearest Maisie! I am so glad you are come!” The leaf shivered with joy.

Maisie swelled up with pride and was so happy to have him on top of her cap. “Oh Leif!” I am so glad I was able to locate you and pop up right beneath you so we could snuggle together and keep each other warm this fall.

The night air had begun to have quite the chill in it, and Leif lay upon Maisie as though he were a blanket, and they spent many nights in this way; in each other’s company and security.

And as the season continued, so did their travels. Leif was lifted up by the great Wind and carried to all sorts of new places. Maisie communicated with the wind and traveled over to wherever Leif ended up. They had a tremendous bond that could not be broken.

Leif knew that Maisie would always be there for him, and he there for her. And that was all they needed to have and to know, and they continued their lives in this way through the fall and into the winter months.