Page 1 :
😇, , The Last Leaf, Summary, , 🌿, , Sue and Johnsy, two young friends and artists shared a small flat that was on the third storey of, an old house., It was the month of November when Johnsy fell seriously ill. She was afflicted by pneumonia., She simply lay in her bed and looked out of the window. This left her friend Sue worried, so she, called a doctor. The doctor visited every day but Johnsy’s condition did not show any, improvement. One day the doctor told Sue that perhaps Johnsy was depressed and in the, absence of her will to live, no medicine could cure her., Johnsy was Sue’s dear friend. So, she made sincere efforts to revive Johnsy’s interest in life by, talking about clothes and fashion. Sadly, nothing worked. Then Sue brought her drawing board, to Johnsy’s room and started painting. She whistled while working so that Johnsy’s mind could, be taken off her illness., Suddenly, Sue heard Johnsy whispering. She rushed to her bed and heard that Johnsy was, counting backwards while looking out of the window. An anxious Sue looked out too and saw an, old ivy creeper climbing half-way up the brick wall opposite their window. The strong autumn, wind was blowing outside and the creeper was shedding its leaves., Sue asked Johnsy what she was counting. Johnsy replied that she was counting the leaves on, the creeper which were almost a hundred till three days ago but now only five were left. Sue, said falling of leaves was normal since it was autumn. However, Johnsy revealed her shocking, fear that when the last leaf fell, she too would die. Sue rubbished this idea and said that old ivy, leaves had nothing to do with Johnsy’s illness. But, Johnsy insisted that she wanted to see the, last leaf fall before it got dark and then sleep forever., Sue comforted Johnsy and begged her not to look out of the window while she used the, incoming light to finish a painting that would get the money. Johnsy agreed on the condition that, Sue would finish her painting soon and not make her wait further to see the fall of the last leaf., Sue then told Johnsy that she had to paint an old miner and was going down to call Behrman,, their neighbour, to be her model. Behrman lived on the ground floor in the same building. He, was a sixty-year-old painter who had a lifelong dream to paint a masterpiece. Sue shared her, worry with Behrman and told how Johnsy was convinced about her death with the fall of the last, leaf., Behrman accompanied Sue to her apartment and the two of them walked silently into Johnsy’s, room. She was sleeping at that time, so the two of them went to the next room and peeped out, through the window. The creeper had only one leaf on it. It was raining heavily and the icy-cold, wind was blowing. Behrman returned without saying anything,, Next morning, Johnsy woke up and asked Sue in a feeble voice to draw the curtains. A nervous, Sue reluctantly drew back the curtains but exclaimed when she looked at the creeper. She, pointed out to Johnsy that there was still one leaf left and it looked quite green and healthy., Johnsy said that she had heard the wind last night and was sure that the leaf must have fallen., If it hadn’t so far, then it would surely fall soon and she too would die. Sue tried to cheer her up, and asserted that she won’t die and she must live for the sake of her friends., Johnsy smiled- weakly and closed her eyes. She looked out of the window after every hour and, every time found the leaf still there. Another storm struck in the evening but the leaf did not fall.

Page 2 :
Johnsy looked at the leaf for a long time and then called Sue. She admitted that she had not, been good to her. Sue had looked after her so lovingly and she, in turn, had not cooperated., The last leaf had shown her that she had been wicked. She had realised that it was a sin to wish, to die. Sue hugged Johnsy and then gave her lots of hot soup and a mirror. Johnsy combed her, hair and smiled brightly. The doctor came in the afternoon and after examining Johnsy told Sue, that since Johnsy now had the will to live, he was confident of her early recovery. Then he took, leave to go downstairs and examine Behrman who too was suffering from acute pneumonia., The next morning Sue came and sat on Johnsy’s bed and informed her that Mr Behrman was, no more. He had died of pneumonia that morning after a brief illness of only two days. He was, found in his bed with wet clothes and shoes by the janitor. A ladder and a still lighted lantern, were found near his bed. There were also some brushes and green and yellow paints near the, ladder. Sue told Johnsy to look out of the window at the ivy leaf. She asked if she wondered why, it didn’t flutter when the wind blew., The green and healthy leaf was Behrman’s masterpiece that he had painted the previous night, braving the icy winds and rain., , ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨