A cool late-October afternoon. Although it was the first day of winter, the tree appeared to be painted in autumn hues, red and orange. She (the tree) seemed delighted and stated to me, 

“We'll meet up again once the chills have worn off. I'd be filled with someone who knows who I am, and I would be filled with a person from the class. Later, we'd meet again in the time that was past.”

I was perplexed. “Chills?” I asked, puzzled. And why would she be filled once more? Someone from class... we’d be in the past... She didn’t say anything. I promptly got out my book, scribbled the rhyme, and spoke it out to myself. “What was she trying to say?” I wondered.

I cried as I imagined what she had gone through, the leaves she had lost, and the boredom she had to endure.

I cursed the weather and whoever was in charge. I cursed more and more until I was out of it. Out of swears to say. I was finally done. I sat alone and depressed on the winter nights, thinking I had lost a dear friend. Even on New Year’s Eve, I was thinking about it and her riddle, which I had not yet solved, or didn’t want to. I thought about it.

My friend’s meeting was eventually scheduled. Who was sitting close to my second period? That was where Mr. Greene was. Just then, though, I finally understood the rhyme the tree had spoken, and the meaning behind them. She meant that she would be full of leaves when winter finally ended, as indicated by “The Chills.” Mr. Greene, the neighboring teacher, was the green color of the leaves. And in the end, when spring arrived in the new year, we would get together once more. 

On the eighth of January in the new year, I dashed to school. I observed the tree, which was earlier dismal and sorrowful, and beheld the new sight with leaves greener than those of a forest in peak season. They hadn’t arrived all at once, but they were gradually appearing daily. My companion had revived and would remain with me until I was forced to leave. 

I know she will stay here for decades to come. But even though I would have left and I’d be all grown up, I'd run across her cousins for miles on end, and they'd always remind me of my dear old friend.