Mr. shiftlet was so shocked that for about a hundred feet he drove along slowly with the door stiff open. a cloud, the exact color of the boy’s hat and shaped like a turnip, had descended over the sun, and another, worse looking, crouched behind the car. mr. shiftlet felt that the rottenness of the world was about to engulf him. he raised his arm and let it fall again to his breast. “oh lord! ” he prayed. “break forth and wash the slime from this earth! ” the turnip continued slowly to descend. after a few minutes there was a guffawing peal of thunder from behind and fantastic raindrops, like tin-can tops, crashed over the rear of mr. shiftlet’s car. which is a metaphor?

yes you could be a life guard if that the question.

when alex falls for the charming new boy at school, cole -- a handsome, funny, sports star who adores her - she can't believe she's finally found her soul who truly loves and understands her.  

at first, alex is blissfully happy. sure, cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her close friend zack, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all her time with another boy? as the months pass, though, alex can no longer ignore cole's small put-downs, pinches, or increasingly violent threats.  

as alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no longer recognizes, she is forced to choose -- between her "true love" and herself.

explanation:

  this riddles' answer is library.

  the "leaves" are a reference to the books' pages that the library contains; the branches are a network of libraries that connect multiple libraries' collections, resources, and items in a system of a common database, integrating them; the branches' organization are a useful management tool for coordinating the multiple collections many libraries have.

lol thats so corny but its funny