Leaf example essay topic

"Karen!" , she called, "what am I going to write my essay on!" I looked up to see Abby, my animated friend. I felt the corners of the mouth curl up into the familiar smile as she ran toward me and pressed a leaf into my palm. I looked at it for a moment before giving her a quizzical glance. "I picked it for some inspiration but it isn't helping", she said with a huff and a slight frown. I looked down at the crumpled foliage in my hand and turned it round in my fingers. It's fascinating how every leaf is different.

I looked at this one - it was a deep green moving into a hint of yellow along the edges. It was about to change. I thought of me - I was changing too and it was scary to no longer be that little girl I had grown used to but a young lady - eager to experience life and yet nervous of what that meant. Things get harder as one gets older and this leaf looked scared to change too - putting off the inevitable.

It had deep wrinkles all along it and as I looked at my hand I saw my wrinkles too. I traced the lines with my gaze as I do sometimes when I look into my grandmothers face. Each choice she had made had created a new line, a new memory, a new lesson. It had a deep cut along one of these lines. I thought how heartbreak could do that to a person - cut so deep that it almost tears them in two. But we are one up on the leaves, I thought triumphantly.

We can put the pieces back and stitch them so that they grow back together. I looked at the long scar running down my right arm - the doctor had stitched that together and my arm functioned well but that scar was still there. It always would be. This happens to the heart too - we may be able to stitch it up again but there will always be that sting or shock when somebody reaches out to touch it. This leaf was simple, no intricate design, and yet it was that simplicity that was so intriguing.

It was not trying to hide itself behind make-up or an emotional mask. It was content and that is truly beautiful. The edges were jagged and worn but that was what made it so special and different - the experiences that this leaf had been through and what it had learned along the way was what made Abby pick it up. It was not young and innocent with the edges traced to perfection but it was beautiful as a new mother is. It had been trampled on - hurt and used but it stood proudly between my slender fingers and looked me in the eye. It would not be defeated by anything or anyone.

I looked at my leaf and then at the tree. I couldn't imagine these leaves discriminating against one another for being red or yellow. The thought seemed absurd - they were all from the same tree and fighting would only make life difficult. How wise they now seemed to be, I thought humbly. I looked at it once more before giving a small sigh and tossing it carelessly to the ground. It was just a leaf after all. personal experience.