Octavia Leaf Person Visits the Lake Kingdom

Here is my last leaf person of the season, Octavia.

  Octavia leaf person grew from a bud to a leaf on a tree that bordered the lake. In the summer, the lake was calm and still except for the splashing of swimmers. In the fall, great gusts of wind rippled and wrinkled the top of the lakes surface, making the once placid lake seem sinister and foreboding. Octavia felt great unease when she looked down at the lake. She had seen the wind snatch many of her brethren of the tree branches. If they were lucky, the wind carried the leaves to the earthy ground around the tree's roots. But more often then not, her leaf friends swirled down to the lake's surface, where they would float, unless a wind-rippled wave pulled them underneath the water. Octavia's heart beat with dread every time she saw another leaf being pulled into the lake. Then the day came where her worst fear came true. She felt the wind pull her free from her branch, and with great terror in her heart, Octavia swirled downward toward the angry grey lake water. Just as her leaf head touched the cold surface, a great gust of wind jostled the water and she was pulled underneath. She floated downward, downward, downward, until she landed on the bottom of the lake. But it was not the horrifying, awful place she had imagined. Under the lake was a beautiful kingdom occupied by tiny mermaids only a foot long. "Hello, Hello!" the mermaids said when they saw Octavia. They linked their arms in hers and pulled her toward a grand castle, made of sand and lake weed. The mermaids adored the leaf people and were always filled with glee when they saw the lake had seen fit to send them a leaf person visitor. When they saw Octavia floating toward their kingdom, they all cheered and clapped. For three weeks, Octavia lived with the mermaids. She danced with them, saw mermaid plays, and heard all the great legends of the mermaid folk. After three weeks, Octavia began to feel exhausted due to lack of sunlight. With tears in her eyes, she said good-bye to her mermaid friends. A fish companion of the mermaids, Bob, took Octavia back to the surface of the lake. She paddled her way back to the earth and sunbathed her self dry underneath her tree. Later in life, Octavia sometimes wondered if it had all been a dream, but if so, it had been the most glorious dream she had ever had.