The Leaves That Wouldn't Fall (part 5)

And Fall thought of one last trick they could do just to make everything perfect. Megan and Michael wanted it dark when they went out on Halloween, so Fall helped them find a few wild clocks that were still in the ground and were starting to rot. A number of minutes had leaked from the clocks when they went to seed, and the minutes had seeped down into the rocks that were buried there too.

"These minute-rocks are just what we need," Fall explained as he dug up a few.

They pounded the minute-rocks into fine sand, and the grains were so small and so finely refined they were completely composed of the merest split-seconds of the best supergranulated time. And then just a few days before Halloween, they took out the minute-rock sand they had made and they threw it all into the air.

"These split-second sand grains are light as can be and so very small they can float on a breeze," Fall said. "The Windman will blow them everywhere and they'll soon be a part of the time we all share. We made lots and lots, it's got to add up to an hour at least."

He was right about that. By the time they woke up on the following day, the seconds they'd let go the night before had added an hour to everyone's day. So all the clocks had to be turned back to make room for the minute-rock hour they'd gained. And when they did that the time it got dark came earlier on in the day. So when Michael and Megan went out on Halloween, it was very dark and mysterious too, just the way it should be and they both had a very good time.

This story is the sixth in a collection of seven stories and nine songs with numerous black and white pen and ink illustrations throughout. After Michael and Megan meet the Seasons, they have many adventures with Fall in particular as he steals Summer's socks, makes a chestnut pie for his friend the White Squirrel, and plays a Halloween trick on Winter. Many of the stories can be acted out and continued by the reader in their everyday life. Although this book is set in Toronto, it can be adapted to fit any North American urban centre.