Leaf Explorations: The Sequel to Leaf Days

That time when, before going to bed, Leaf had sneaked into her room and whispered,"Tomorrow we will be adventurers," before shutting the door, was one of the most puzzling times of Maya's life.
It was a Friday night, and Maya was exhausted from school. She fell asleep right away, not giving much thought to what Leaf had said.
The next morning they packed. Along with clothes and a few packets of food, they brought along a tent. "We might need to camp out," Leaf told Maya as she stuffed the now compacted tent into her own, bigger bag.
They seemed to fly out the window, it was all in a blur from excitement. She ran, following Leaf as well as she could. Soon they came to a large patch of grass surrounded by woods. There they explored and played until noon, when they ate peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, along with a banana each.
Then, suddenly, hurriedly, Leaf jumped to her feet. "I have to go, sorry," she shouted from a few yards away. She was running, her medium-long hair trailing behind her.
Maya worried. What if Leaf never came back? No, that's silly, she told herself. But she still worried.
Maya started to cry. Her tears streamed down her cheeks and into the wind. At this time of day, the woods got windy. Maya shivered. "I wish I had a jacket," she said aloud.
I could live here, Maya realized. I could set up the tent as a house, and catch fish from the stream for meals... She pulled the tent out of Leaf's bag, starting to carry out the first part of her plan, when Leaf came rushing along, crunching fallen leaves all the way. "What, you think you're going to stay that way?" She stuffed the tent into the bag, picked up Maya, and began to walk.
Getting home was all blurry now, whenever Maya thought about it. Leaf had carried her all through the field, and when they finally got home, it was night time. Maya fell asleep the instant she touched the bed, like on Friday night.
Asleep or not, this story remained in Maya's head the rest of her life.

Leaf Days*

Every day, after school, Leaf, Maya's big sister, came home to babysit Maya until Mom and Dad arrived. But today she wasn't coming. Mom was at work, Dad was coming home on the BART train, and Leaf wasn't coming.
Maya started thinking. She went to her favorite thinking position: Her legs up on her head, her arms crossed and her eyes looking up. She thought about all the happy times she and Leaf had spent together as if that would make Leaf come. But she didn't.
Maya went into Leaf's room. She looked at Leaf's neat desk and Leaf's cosy stuffed animal that Maya used to beg to play with. She thought of what to do while she waited. That was when she remembered Leaf saying,"Read for a little while."
Maya went into her room and picked out Leaf's favorite book. Leaf had let Maya bring it into her room so Maya could remember Leaf at night as long as Leaf was allowed to read it sometimes. Maya picked it up. For a five-year-old, reading this sort of book was hard. By the time Maya figured out the first sentence, she heard a knock at the door. Maya rushed to open it and there was Leaf! Maya was so filled with joy and relief that she gave Leaf a great big hug.

* This post was fun to write. I hope you enjoy it.