The Last Leaf

Once upon a time, there was a town of poor painters on a high hill. Sue and Johnsy were
both training to be painters. They lived in a little brick house at the edge of town. Johnsy
had come down with pneumonia and stayed in bed, feelin very ill.
Returning home after work. Sue was exhausted. “The wind is so cold outside. Winter is
coming. How are you Johnsy? Have you been coughing a lot? Have you taken your
medicine?”
Johnsy was too weak to respond. Sue and Johnsy were so poor, they could barely afford
food and medicine. All they could do was try to sell some of their paintings.
“Cough, cough, cough, oh.......”. johnsy stared listlessly out the window. There was some
ivy on the opposite wall and she could see the leaves dancing in the harsh wind.
“What are you looking at, Johnsy?”
“Oh.....just leaves”.
“What about them?”.
“They are just like me......”.
“Stop looking at them. You are nothing like them!”Sue closed the curtains.
“No Sue, don’t do that, I want to see the leaves......”.
“When the last leaf withers and falls, I will die too”. Johnsy said helplessly.
One morning, a doctor examined Johnsy and took her temperature. Then spoke with Sue
in another room
“Hmm ....... I don’t know what to say”
“What do you think Doctor, is there any hope she will get better?”
“I don’t see much hope for now. She has no will to live.”
“What? But isn’t there anything I can do?”
“She must believe that she can live and get better. The best you can do now is give her
hope and encouragement. That is the only medicine that can help her now.”
“I understand (sigh).”
Sue had to make illustrations for magazines for Johnsy’s medicine. Johnsy lay in bed
beside her and gazed sadly out of the window.
“Eight, seven, oh........one more has fallen.....six.”
“Johnsy, what are you doing?”
“See, only six left now. When the last leaf falls, I will die too.”
“How can you that? That’s ridiculous! You are not a leaf.”
“The wind must be very strong outside. Two more have just fallen.”
Sue gently took Johnsy’s hand. “Please Johnsy, be strong. The doctor says you will be
alright.”
Sue and Johnsy had a neighbor called Mr. Behrman. He was a painter too, but he hadn’t
painted anything in a long time.
“Tell me Sue, how is Johnsy?”
“Hah....she is so ill and week. She taught that she will die when all the leaves from the
Boston ivy outside have fallen. The doctor says she can still recover, if she finds the will
to live. But all she wants to do is stare at the lives.”
“I wish we could find a way to give her strength.”
Heavy winds and raindrops howled through the streets that night. “The weather was
bad. I don’t know if the leaves can hold up against this weather.”
In the morning, Sue woke with an anxious feeling.
“Oh Sue, you’re awake.”
“Johnsy, are you up already?”
“The leaves must all be gone now, right? Sue, please open the curtains and let me see
them.”
Sue didn’t want to open the curtain.
“Please Sue. I want to see the last leaf.”
“No, I can’t! Don’t ask me.”
“Please, Sue.”
“No. You will get better, and then you will go and open them yourself.”
Sue didn’t want to open the curtains, but when she saw the tears in Johnsy’s eyes, she
knew she had no choice. She went up to the window and opened the curtains slowly.
“Look at that, Sue. The last leaf has survived!”
“You see Johnsy. It was strong, and it lived through the rainstorm! Johnsy!”
“Sue, I will be like that leaf. I will get better, I will have the will to live now!”
On that day, the doctor came to examined Johnsy.
“I am glad to see her so much improved. It seems has found the will to live and she will
be able to recover very very soon.”
“Thank you so much, Doctor”.
“Your welcome. You know, your neighbor Mr. Behrman was brought to the hospital this
morning. He was found lying out in the street, holding the paint.”
“So how is he? Please, tell me.”
“He didn’t make it, I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no!”
Sue looked again at the last ivy leaf, and suddenly realized that it wasn’t moving in the
wind. She began to cry quetly, Mr. Behrman painted the leaf whole night.

Moral value of this story is everything which happened in our live is depend on our
mind. If we think that we can do, so of course we can do it.