By Eddynn Jennifer Mangaoang
Please do not repost or copy to another site. Thank you, Enjoy reading.
Many years ago in a village surrounded by autumn’s sunset colors, a grandma and her eight-year-old grandson gathered fallen maple leaves.
“Grandma, grandma,” said the sweet child whose name was Jordan. He offered his carefully picked red leaves to his grandma. “What is the use of these leaves?”
Grandma straightened herself and massaged her lower back. “Well, son, I press them to create a bookmark.”
“A bookmark?”
“Yes,” she transferred the contents in her bigger sack. “I sell them to the local bookstore.”
Jordan nodded, “Oh.”
That night, while they’re on their shared wooden bed, Grandma told Jordan, “The surrounding trees are our livelihood; not only me but those who live in this village. We must take care of them.”
Jordan, keeping this in mind, agreed.
Later, when Jordan was fifteen, he and his friends were underneath a big maple tree in its glorious green summer colors.
“What are you doing?” Jordan asked his friends, Ouham and Milo, when he noticed them lighting a pile of dried leaves and fallen skinny branches using stones.
Milo grinned at him. “We’re experimenting!”
Ouham reached for a rougher stone, glanced at him, and said, “We’re starting a fire using stones only.”
“We learned this technique from Old Man Rance.” Then, he leaned on Jordan with his right hand up in a gesture of a whisper, “He’s burning parts of his land to make it fertile. He said it’s effective.”
“The soil is black for a while and really looks very fertile.”
Jordan frowned and gestured towards the pile of leaves. “But the leaves are gathered by elderlies for pressing -”
“Nah,” Milo elongated the word. “They only used autumn leaves because it has pretty colors.”
“But isn’t this dangerous?”
“It’s not. We know what we’re doing,” Milo replied.
They weren’t successful with their first try.
On a Saturday, Ouham and Milo encouraged Jordan to come with them to Old Man Rance’s land to show him the fertile land. Jordan was convinced that it’s really a successful method.
He returned home with such knowledge and told his grandma all about it.
Grandma’s silence and serious face made Jordan nervous.
“Grandma, don’t you think that with this method, we can use it to create our own little farm?”
Grandma sat down on a wobbly wooden stool. “This method might be successful now, but Jordan, repeated burning of the land also damages it. After several uses of this method, I’m afraid the land will not recover until decades later.”
Jordan’s eyebrows met and he frowned at her. “Grandma, you’re too old to pick leaves and you can only do so during autumn. With this, we can start our own farmland and plant vegetables and fruits - we can sell them in the market and do so all year round!”
Grandma couldn’t reply when her grandson left the kitchen.
The next day, Ouham, Milo, and Jordan went deeper into the woods. This time they were ready. They gathered piles of leaves and branches and stole a fire-maker from Jordan’s house.
There was a flare and then it burst into a huge flame with heavy, dark smoke.
The fire had spread. Ouham, Milo, and Jordan ran toward the village alerting everyone of the fire.
They lost no lives, but they lost their livelihoods. The trees turned black from the highest branches to the roots down below. The land looked like it had been rained on because of how dark it was. And their houses… only those made from stone remained and even those were charred.
“Never attempt to start a fire if you do not understand the consequences. May this serve as a lesson.”
RESOURCES
cdc.gov Tips From Former Smokers Campaign [Resources for Quitting found on the right-hand side in a YELLOW BOX]
cancer.gov Lung Cancer
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