I woke up still thinking about the tree and the leaves, and why so many leaves might fall at once. There’s coincidence, but that’s a lot of coincidence with so many leaves. They weren’t torn from the stems by the wind. The wind had been blowing in little gusts before and after the leaf fall.

Did one leaf yell out to the others, Ready, Steady, Drop? I think not.

So if not the wind, and if not the leaves, what else? There was the observer (me). I could have been hallucinating.

I thought about the tree.

It was as though the tree were startled, had a brief shock, and relaxed its hold. The leaves that were most ready (perhaps the stems having already dried and shriveled) fell. Imagine a waiter holding a tray of hors d’oeurvres and a loud noise comes from behind. The hands might flex open for a second, just long enough to let those canapés drop to the floor.

Can a tree be startled?

How would such an impulse be communicated?