In fact, the tree was the largest and tallest tree that I had ever seen in my life. The tree 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 large tree were a mix of orange, brown, and red. The leaves scattered all over the ground where the tree stood gave me a very good hint of what she wanted me to do here. “Unfortunately, this tree takes a long time to shed all of its leaves. As you can see, even as we stand here its leaves are falling,” Sophie said before she turned to smile at me. “I see…” I murmured in understanding. If all I had to do was sweep up the fallen leaves then that wasn’t a hard task. There was quite a lot of it so it would probably take some time if I worked at it alone, but it wasn’t something that was unmanageable. “I want you to sweep up all the fallen leaves and then make sure to immediately pick up the leaves 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 very important 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 leaves of the tree high above us and as if on cue, a few leaves fluttered down from above. If the leaves keep on falling and I had to pick them up, then wouldn’t that mean that I’ll have to be here forever until the Lady arrives with her guests? “Yes...but umm…the leaves will keep falling so…” I murmured questioningly. “Of course. The leaves will keep falling and your task is to make sure to pick them up immediately. Which part of your duty don’t you understand?” Sophie asked before a smile curved her lips. “I understand,” I said with a patient smile. “Good. The broom and other tools that you may need is leaned up against that smaller tree over there. Please make sure to perform your duties well, Mila. We have such high hopes for you,” Sophie said before she laughed a little. “Thank you. I’ll get it done, there’s nothing for you to worry about,” I replied with a sight nod of my head. She does not have any malicious intent. This is just the work that I was assigned with. Sweeping and picking up leaves will become my specialized skill soon if I keep this up. It seemed like I haven’t done much since becoming a maid here apart from sweeping leaves in various gardens. “Well, good...” Sophie said. She flashed me a little smile before stepping to the side. I grabbed the broom and began sweeping up the fallen leaves as she watched on. After a while of watching me, she must have been satisfied with what she was seeing because she left without another word to me. Unfortunately, it was a warmer day than normal and that made me feel tired. I sweated quite a lot after a while of working. After quite a long while of sweeping the leaves into high piles, I could see the green grass on the floor as some areas were cleared up. I had to say that the tree looked much better now that its orange leaves contrasted with the lush green grass on the ground. I breathed in a deep breath before sighing. The leaves just keep on falling down, I’m going to be here forever. It wasn’t that I minded because there wasn’t another place that I had to be. On top of that, there was no one waiting for me. I had no idea how many hours I was there as I watched orange and brown leaves falling down from above. Immediately after they landed on the grass, I bent and picked them up before putting them on top the pile of leaves that I had swept together. At least the wind was blowing now, and the sky was a beautiful shade of blue. More leaves… My eyes followed the large orange leaf as it fell down. I walked towards it before bending down to reach for it with my hand. My eyes met another alien object close to the leaf and my hand halted as it hovered over the leaf. I cocked my head to the side in slight confusion at this unexpected development. Why is there a pair of back shoes here? Slowly, I lifted my face up as my eyes glanced upwards from the shoe to the legs of its owner. The fabric of blue jeans greeted my sight and as I tipped my head back to look up further, I saw a man standing there right in front of me. “Ahh!” I let out a cry of surprise. Who is he and when did he get here? I must have moved too fast, or I must have been too surprised by his sudden appearance than I lost my balance and began falling backwards. His face was the only thing that I saw while I was falling backwards. It was like everything started moving in slow motion. My mind still shocked at the sight of him that I couldn’t quite react to my fall. Suddenly, time resumed again; however, I was no longer falling backwards. “Sorry for surprising you…” the man said. My eyes widened even further as I took in his warm smile before my eyes fell to his hand that was wrapped tightly around my own. Thanks to his fast reflex of grabbing my hand, I didn’t end up falling onto my back. That would have been extremely embarrassing. The sun shining from above behind his head threw a dark shadow over his face and lightened the shade of his blond hair. The stranger was dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans and a white shirt. The few unbuttoned buttons showed off his muscular chest just a little and that added to the overall very laid-back vibe that he had. He had dark shade sunglasses on probably because of the sunny weather. --To be continued…