Chapter 30: A Chance Meeting with a Stranger
The tree was the most prominent and tallest tree I had ever seen. It truly stood out from the rest because of the color of its leaves. Because it wasn’t autumn, the other trees’ leaves were green; however, the leaves of this giant tree were a mix of orange, brown, and red. The leaves scattered all over the ground where the tree stood gave me a perfect hint of what she wanted me to do here.
“Unfortunately, this tree takes a long time to shed all its leaves. As you can see, even as we stand here, its leaves are falling,” Sophie said before smiling at me.
“I see...” I murmured in understanding.
If all I had to do was sweep up the fallen leaves, that wasn’t a challenging task. There was quite a lot of it, so it would probably take some time if I worked on it alone, but it wasn’t unmanageable.
“I want you to sweep up all the fallen leaves and immediately pick up the ones that have just fallen. As I just told you, my Lady favors this tree and its uniqueness. Sometime later in the afternoon, she will bring a critical guest here to view the tree, and she expects this entire area to be clean without a fallen leaf on the ground. Is that clear?” Sophie explained before asking to make sure that I understood.
I guess I did understand her; however...
I stared up at the tree’s leaves high above us, and as if on cue, a few leaves fluttered down from above. If the leaves kept falling and I had to pick them up, wouldn’t that mean I’d have to be here forever until the Lady arrived with her guests?
“Yes...but umm...the leaves will keep falling so...” I murmured questioningly.
“Of course. The leaves will keep falling, and you must pick them up immediately. Which part of your duty don’t you understand?” Sophie asked before a smile curved her lips.