Recognition

The raindrops danced in the air, frolicking; floating in gentle waves. If gravity was the soft melody of Earth, then the breeze and droplets are lovers, twirling in the sky. The droplet consigned itself to the warm summer air, painting rainbows and all sort of snazzy pictures in the air, the darkening cloud is the perfect canvas. I gently push open our front door, bouquet of Lupines in my hand, she has always loved flowers, but never was able to afford it between keeping us fed, paying the rent and the endless little treats she kept in the magical box. She sat in the kitchen, the light gyrating with her shadow, intertwining into something eerie and forbidding. “Hey mum, how’s your day?” I mumbled as I placed Lupines into a porcelain vast, shades of orchid permeate into the air. “Hello darling, how was school?” Mum looked up from her book, perplexed. “Oh dear, I do mean work, how was work?” “Ah work was great Mum, but it’s your birthday today, and we are going out for dinner with a couple of friends?” I asked, bewildered. “Uhmm, yes... Birthday dinner, we must get going then” She gestured, as she headed for the door, like a startled child. “What, you want to go out in your PJs Mum?“, I snickered, “let’s get you changed first.” I gently pulled her inside, ‘odd’ I thought to myself, ‘the book is upset down.’

A soft breeze swept through the vivid Autumn sky, the leaves’ susurration is the jingle of the season. As you walk on the crispy grass, next to the streamer of electrifyingly blue ribbon, you see the leaves swaying around you, lingering and reluctant to join Earth’s embrace. The morning air, brittle and bitter; taunts you as they draw winter closer, yet the smell of thunderstorm in the air, along with the scent of lavender enchants you. “Mum” you call out to her, “Sorry darling, but shouldn’t we visit your sister today?” she mumbled, a childish innocence flashed on her face. “Mum, she’s passed” I whispered, unsure and my voice trembled, “do you remember?”

Taking off your glasses, the sizzling flame dancing, blurring together, like an afterthought. A shadow is hunched across the sparkling fire, burning brightly but heading towards the oblivion. Dazed by the daunting shadows calling to me, you scrambled outside. The sky was a mirror of darkness, the sombre air was arctic, chilling your bones; as the dusky sky swallows your hope, your soul. You have come across sundown syndrome in different literature, yet you never realised the raw power it possesses until it tore through your soul.

Spring taunted you with a ballet of herself, edging closer but retreating at the last moment. The wind howls outside, relentless and never seizing, and the fleeting moment of peace you have between the weather and Mum, you spend inside a little alcove. A little flower grows inside a vase, it’s Lupine, aggressively purple, sucking the colour out of everything, you smile to yourself; as everything blurs together. Like the winter, they have all become an afterthought.