The Leaves

By Page Tate C.

The leaves! They’re burning!

That was Piper’s first thought when she and her friends walked into the woods in San Francisco, California, in the middle of a scorching afternoon. Jake almost didn’t notice the flames and walked right by them at first. When Leo saw the flames, however, he just stopped in his tracks.

“We need something to put them out, or the fire will spread across the woods, and we could die!” Leo shouted. Leo was always like this, super dramatic and having a loud voice. His green eyes also made him even more dramatic.

Piper shook her head, saying, “Leo, it will be fine. You’re over exaggerating like you always do.”

Jake agreed. “We could use our shoes to step on the fire!” he said.

Piper nodded. Suddenly, the fire spread and one of the trees nearby caught fire. Leo screamed. The three all ran away as the tree fell, making the fire even bigger. Piper felt more scared than she had in her whole life. She remembered her mother’s words, “If you run into a fire, remember to just use the walkie talkie I gave you.”

The walkie talkie! Of course! Piper wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. “Leo! Jake! My mom gave me a walkie talkie! We should see if it still works!” Piper said.

“PIPER! LEO! LOOK OUT!” Jake shouted at them.

Neither Piper nor Leo reacted in time. A tree came falling down on top of them, thankfully being small. The pain was like nothing Piper felt before. She screamed. Leo’s eyes were wide open. He must have been literally out of his mind. Piper immediately knew that her right arm was broken. She wriggled out from under the tree. Leo just lay there, under the tree. Piper noticed that the tree he was under was catching fire.

“Leo! Get up!” Jake shouted.

Jake must have seen there was no other way. He used all of his strength to lift up the tree and pull Leo out from under it. The three kept running, with Piper and Jake dragging Leo behind them.

“Jake. I can’t do this much longer. My strength is running out,” Piper said. It was true. With her hurt arm, Piper only had one arm to pull Leo, and every muscle in her body ached.

Jake stopped. He said, “Piper, it’s okay. We’re out of the woods.”

Piper looked around and saw that they were standing in a grassy plain. She looked back and saw the woods erupting with fire behind them. Jake set Leo down to rest. Piper suddenly doubled over, trying to catch her breath. It had to have been from the poor oxygen from the fire.

“Piper!” Jake said. “What’s wrong?” Piper tried to breath, but it was like inhaling knives. “N-need…..w-w-water…,” she croaked.

Jake plucked his water bottle out of his backpack. Piper drained half the bottle and immediately felt better.

“Are you alright? Do you need any medicine?” Jake asked.

“No, thanks. I’m okay now. Thanks Jake. We should probably head home now,” Piper replied.

Jake gasped when he saw her arm. “Piper! Your arm!” he exclaimed.

“Jake, I’m fine. Now let’s pick up Leo and head back,” she said. Piper helped Jake carry Leo back to her house.

When she arrived, her mom gasped. “Oh my goodness! What happened to your arm, Piper? Why is Leo unconscious?” she said.

Piper and Jake set Leo down on the couch and told her mom the story.

“Well, Jake, you should rest. You’re welcome to stay here as well for the night. Piper’s father will take care of you. Piper, we need to take you to the hospital,” Piper’s mom said.

“Okay,” Piper replied.

​Piper came back from the hospital with a cast on her right arm. She ate dinner, brushed her teeth, went to bed, and fell into a deep sleep, with amazing dreams.

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