Story Hour
Leaf It To Nicker
Written by Gene B. Williams
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In summer, many plants are full of green leaves. As the season changes, those leaves change to be yellow, red, purple, brown and other colors. Guess what. That’s what color those leaves were all along. They’ve just been wearing masks.
Leaves have something called chlorophyll (klor-o-fill). Chlorophyll is green. During the growing season, the plant keeps making this. The leaves look green. At the end of the growing season, and the plant is going to go to sleep for the cold months, the plant stops making chlorophyll. The leaves then go back to be their real colors.
During the growing season, the leaves use chlorophyll to collect sunshine and make it into food. You and other animals eat the plants. Then you get this energy.
Imagine that! When you eat spinach or corn or asparagus, you’re eating sunshine! It’s the chlorophyll that makes this happen.
When the growing season is over, some plants stop making chlorophyll. A fluid called sap stops flowing. The leaves return to their real color and fall off.
Nicker is going to learn about this – in his own way.
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LEAF IT TO NICKER
Danny and Nicker made a game of it. They called it “Chase and Catch.” As a leaf fell from a tree, they would chase it and catch it before it could hit the ground. Danny had the advantage of having two hands. Nicker, though, had that mouth. It worked like a big catcher’s mitt. And sea dragons are SO very fast!
So, Nicker made the first catch.
That’s when he found out about a disadvantage.
“Phtttt!” he said as he spit out the leaf. “These taste awful!”
Danny laughed at the sour look on Nicker’s face. That, of course, got Nicker laughing. Soon, the two were back to chasing the leaves, laughing, and making silly sounds. These sounds were especially strange because Nicker had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, and leaves were sticking to the peanut butter on his lips. The sounds he made … well, they buzzed and blurred.
Nicker was way ahead in the score. He was winning the game. But then … if you’ve ever caught 137 leaves in your mouth, you’d know. It makes you VERY thirsty. While he went to get a drink, Danny began to catch up.
Just then, it began to rain. Yes, it was still raining leaves – and now it was raining rain. The real thing. Nicker didn’t care. He is used to water. Danny … well, he’s smart enough to come in out of the rain. So, they did.
When the rain stopped, they went back outside. Danny decided that they should make a huge pile of leaves at the bottom of a small hill so they could jump into it. First he tried “leaf kicking.” That was fun when walking along the sidewalk with Nana, but it didn’t do much to build a pile. He went to get a rake. That didn’t work very well, either.
You see … it was this way.
Danny had seen people rake leaves. It looked easy. What he hadn’t noticed is that the rake has to have its fingers going down. He had it upside-down, with the fingers going up. The smooth side just slipped over the top and got nothing done. Nicker watched for a while and decided to help in his own sea dragon way.
He zoomed around in circles, like a wild whirlwind. The way he twisted his body made the leaves all move toward a center. And that center was Danny. Before Danny knew what was happening, his ankles were covered with wet leaves. Then they were up to his knees, then his waist. Nicker kept zooming in that circle, with a big silly grin on his face until … the only thing that showed of Danny in a large pile of sticky leaves was a pair of eyes and the top of his head.
Fortunately, being buried in leaves isn’t very dangerous. Still, it was difficult to wade out of the pile and walk up the slippery slope. There were slippery leaves on the grass, and slippery leaves on the bottoms of his shoes. Soon there were slippery leaves on his knees, and slippery leaves on his hands, and slippery leaves stuck on his face. (You see, walking on slippery sticky leaves is … well, it’s slippery, and when you fall down, it’s also sticky.)
Finally he got to the top. He looked down the hill and was ready to make a run at the pile to jump into it, but … well, the hill was slippery! Danny thought a moment and said, “Let’s go leaf sliding!” With that he ran a few steps, took a dive onto his tummy, and slid across the wet leaves down the small hill into that pile of leaves at the bottom.
This was difficult for Danny, but not for a sea dragon. Nicker remembered when he and Danny had gone to Michigan to meet the artist who drew them, Marci in Michigan. (Do you remember their visit to Michigan? If not, you can read about it *here.*) That’s when Nicker learned about snow … and he became a sled for Danny. What fun it would be to ride on the back of a sea dragon down a snowy hill!
And what fun it was to slide into those wet leaves! Soon they were covered. Except that one had a long snout, they both looked like two identical messy leaf monsters. As Danny brushed some leaves off, and pulled sticks stuck in his hair, Nicker wiggled and shook.
Just then came a voice.
“Danny, it’s time to come in.”
It was Danny’s mother.
Danny and Nicker looked at each other. “Uh oh,” they both said at the same time. Danny brushed harder. Nicker shook and wiggled harder. Nicker was doing pretty well, except … as I said, he’d had a peanut sandwich for lunch, with peanut butter on top. The wet leaves stuck to his body. Even more, they stuck to his mouth.
He tried to explain to Danny that he needed some help. It came out, “Fadnshdayn, rshI crickneedkle shshshs hushsshp.”
Just how Danny understood that, I have no idea, but he did. He grabbed at the leaves around Nicker’s mouth. It was a nice thing to do, but … well, as Nicker’s mouth got more clean, Danny’s hands got peanut butter on them. Then the leaves were stuck to his fingers. As he wiped them on his pants, leafy peanut butter stuck there, too.
“Danny!” came the voice again, but from closer.
Nicker was nearly clean, but that was no good. Danny’s mother was getting closer. Nicker took a dive into the pile of leaves. It was a great hiding place! Only his eyes showed. With those eyes he saw Danny’s mother come around a tree.
Imagine what she saw!
There was Danny, covered with wet leaves of all colors. Some of the brown was leaves. Some of the brown was mud. Some of the brown was ….
“Why are you gluing leaves to yourself with peanut butter?” Danny’s mother wanted to know.
“I’m not, Mom,” he tried to explain. “You see, uh .. I was … well, it was this way.
I didn’t ….”
She looked around. “No excuses. There’s sure no one else here.” She shook her head in disgust. “You’re a mess!” was all she said. It was really all she could say.
He was!
Now imagine this.
She took Danny by the hand to go home and get cleaned up. Danny looked back. Nicker poked his head up from the leaf pile. Leaves were still glued to him. He grinned. The leaves glued to his mouth by peanut butter made a smile you’d have to see (or imagine) to believe.
Danny started to laugh.
Danny’s mother looked at him, then at the pile of leaves, then at Danny again. Of course, she saw nothing – at least nothing other than a very messy boy who was still chuckling … for no reason?
At least no reason she could see.
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