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Her name was Laura. She had long, flowing brown hair with shades of auburn and strands of gold that shimmered when the sun smiled. Her hair flowed softly with the breeze and rested upon her shoulders like the long branches of a tree gently sways in the summer night’s breeze.

Her eyes were an unusual shade of light green, like the luminescent leaves of the golden elm when the sun shines through. They always sparkled, especially when she spoke directly to you, and looked right into your eyes.

She could be seen running along the river’s edge or swimming in the glistening water. She belonged to the earth and air, floating gently on wind currents, floating amongst a million sparkling diamonds glistening atop the water. She was a creation of nature at its finest, a natural beauty, unspoiled and pure.

The Indians named her Floating Leaf, because she rode the wind currents to faraway places and floated effortlessly on the water, the currents carrying her down the river to the waterfall.

She is timeless and ageless. It wasn’t always like this. It all happened a long, long time ago. This is the legend of Floating Leaf.

Ending to Floating Leaf

Laura’s family settled a fertile piece of land along the river. The soil was rich and produced wheat, corn, soybeans, and vegetables. The cows, horses and goats had plenty to graze upon. Laura had two older brothers: Liam and Leonard. She loved spending time with them. They would run to the river’s edge, take of their shoes and socks, and run splashing into the water. Every afternoon they would cool off from the day’s chores. It was their ritual. They all loved the river, especially Laura. She could be found sitting by the edge of the river whenever she had free time, reading or sometimes painting. She captured the wildlife and each season’s colors and changes along her beloved river. She marveled at the way the water sparkled as if it was covered with a blanket of diamonds, although she had never seen a diamond, but knew they sparkled. Laura played with the Indian children across the river from the time she was a little girl. She learned about the river, the woods, and animals, and they exchanged stories about the river. She taught them how to paint.

It happened one day on one of her explorations down the river. She came upon a rock formation rising above the river like a wall, where she could barely make out a narrow slit in the rock wall. She had never noticed this opening before. She slowly paddled into this narrow passage. To her surprise and delight, she had discovered a cave hidden deep within the rock wall. She slowly paddled deeper into the cave where she still had light. She noticed an odd smell. She pulled her canoe onto what she thought was a sandy area. As she stepped out of the canoe, she realized she was standing in thick, dark green mud with bright gold streaks running through it. Laura was intrigued and decided to experiment with this strange mud, as the smell reminded her of a poultice her mother would make. At first, she smoothed it on her arms and legs and then rinsed it off in the water. She thought it made her skin feel softer. Over time, Laura made many trips to her cave. She started putting the mud on her face like a mud mask. She would let it dry, then rinse her face in the cold clear water. When she finished, her face was smooth and radiant. As she got older, she got even bolder, and her experimenting evolved. Laura started to cover her entire naked body with this strange mud. She would let the mud dry, then lay in a shallow pool of water allowing the mud to soften. Then she would immerse herself in the cold clear water. She would swirl her body around and around in the water until all the mud was no longer clinging to her skin, leaving her skin softer and more radiant than it had ever been. Her mud baths became a ritual. No one knew about the strange mud or her hidden cave; it was her secret. She never told a soul. Folks just knew that Laura spent all her free time at the river and disappeared for hours at a time. Years passed and Laura was even more beautiful.

One day late in the afternoon she went to get her last mud bath, as it was starting to get a little too cool and harsh weather would soon be setting in. She was in the mud cave when a sudden burst of wind blew through, and it started to rain harder than she had even seen in her entire life. The wind kept blowing more water into the cave, causing the water to rise and begin to swirl, and the mud getting thicker and thicker. The thick, muddy water was swirling and swirling around her, engulfing her in its power and force, pulling her down further and further. She struggled and fought as hard as she could to free herself. But the force was too strong. Laura could not free herself from its pull.

Laura vanished, disappeared! Her family, the townspeople, and the Indians searched for her for days and weeks. They could not find her. She would not be found. She belonged to the river. The river had swallowed her.

The Indians tell the story of Floating Leaf, how much she loved the river and everything that swam in it, everything that fell in it, everything that floated on it, and all that depended upon it. They believe Laura returns every spring when the trees begin to bud and the robins begin to sing, and the frogs start croaking. They believe they hear her when the wind blows and the leaves rustle, or they see her floating among the diamonds shining on the water. They believe she stays all season, travels up and down the river, and keeps a watchful eye over their river.

In the fall, when the weather turns, she gently falls from the tree with other leaves. She catches an air current and floats through the air until ever so softly landing on the sparkling water, floating among the diamonds as the current carries her down river. They await and celebrate the return of Floating Leaf each spring.