As evening neared, Harinder felt anxious and couldn’t wait to see the princess.

He walked to the springs nearby and washed his face and hands. He looked at his reflection in the tiny pond to make sure that he looked clean and tidy.

When the other workers left for the day, Harinder sat down under a tree closest to the pebbled path. He wanted to get a clear look at the princess.

The branches hung low, and leaves lay scattered on the ground where he sat. Harinder picked a leaf to scrutinize. It was an almost dried leaf. The veins on the leaf were prominent like the lines on the palm of his hands.

Harinder wondered at those veins. They kept the leaf supple when green and held it together in perfect formation. Then, when the leaf dried, the veins would tear at its seams, and the poor leaf would tatter into fragments, disintegrating into a bed of compost.

The compost was the nourishment for the soil and sustenance to newly budding plant life.

Taken from my book, The Goddess of the Himavan. on Kindle / Paperback