In "High and Lifted Up", what is the moral lesson?

So are you talking about the very short story by this title, written by a guy named Mike Krath?  I hope so, because that's the story I'm talking about here...

I believe the moral to this story is that it's important to see "the big picture" in order to be wise and make good decisions.  Often, if you are focused on your own immediate desires, you can make big mistakes.

In the story, Tommy and his friend the maple leaf only want to have fun.  They want to go to the city dump because that's where the maple leaf's friends are and they can have fun there.  They blow along at a low level and don't really know where they're going.

The old leaf blows up high.  He can see a long way and he can tell that there's a fire burning at the dump.  He tries to warn Tommy and the maple leaf, but they don't listen.

So I think the moral is that you should try to rise above your immediate desires and look at the long term/big picture.  This will prevent you from harming yourself while you are pursuing short-term pleasure.