Autumn

PERFECTION.

Though perfection can be such a cruel mistress, she lets you know that her works are dubbed masterpieces.

Miss Perfection did an astounding job to lay down a beautiful escapade— just for me, I hoped. Just walking into the woods to meet the escapade made it evident that Miss Perfection spruced it up flawlessly.

The crusty, flaming coloured leaves would crunch under the soles of your feet, and the earthy scent would flutter against your nostrils as you walked through it. I loved that feeling.

I hugged my maroon sweatshirt into me just as the nippy wind breezed past my body. Inclining my head back, I had to squint my eyes when the sun rays glistened through the kaleidoscope of golden and vermilion leaves that hung on the tree branches above me. The leaves threatened to fall anytime as it lost its support from the branches.

One of those red maple leaves escaped from its twig and it flitted in the air like a sheet of paper. A sudden gust of wind carried it away from me and it whirled around in the air before getting lost in the millions of its like. I smiled.

I love Autumn.

My mom preferred to call it Fall, something about it being derived from falling leaves, to which I disagreed and stated that it sounded too practical. I would usually have a quick, unnecessary argument with her on which name sounded prettier. I won, because let us be honest— Autumn is such a beautiful name for such a beautiful season.

A sound of a twig snapping had me breaking off my line of thoughts. My eyes skimmed over the area until I heard a rustling of leaves towards the left. The first thing I thought of was... Was that a bear? I figured that would not be possible since I was deep in a secluded area of a residential park, not the actual woods...

The sound of crunching leaves got nearer and nearer, and I was almost ready to stand up and run. Almost, but I did not move from my spot. I was quite curious as to who or what it was. Also, getting off my comfortable position would mean my butt getting numb. I would rather not.

Then, from the corner of my eye, I noticed someone hopping towards the log diagonally to my left. I watched her. She was staring hard at the ground with her hands in the pockets of her denim jacket, slowly treading on the ground as if to make every single leaf crunch under her combat boots. I wondered if she enjoyed doing so.

Upon reaching the log, she raised her leg to go over it with her front body facing me. Suddenly, she gazed up and my breath hitched as we both locked eyes. Her motion stopped and she stood in an awkward position over the log.

Random questions started whirling in my head. Who in their right mind would walk through here? Is she going to kill me? Why does she look so hot?

She isn’t a bear in a human costume, is she?

As quickly as the pause came, she moved again, letting her leg graze against the log roughly before letting it drop beside her other leg. Raising both of her hands to her shoulders, she tilted her head to one side.

“Calm down, I’m not a murderer or anything,” she spoke in a smooth, tantalizing voice. I just blinked at her and felt myself heave a breath. She took a step forward and started moving towards me cautiously. Instinctively, I tucked my legs into me and hugged them with my arms without averting my eyes from the girl.

“I’m just passing by, don’t worry,” she snickered with a quick wave of her hand before putting them back in her denim jacket. She was not lying, though; she trudged past me and through to the area behind my designated tree.

Or so I thought.

Her head popped out of the side of the tree, startling me for a moment. “So what are you doing here all alone?”

I could not make up a reply as my heart thudded out of my chest. I did not know whether it was the fact that she just scared me or she was seriously beautiful. Wait, did I just think about that?

Her eyebrows suddenly scrunched together as she fixed her beanie and squatted down on one knee. Her long, black hair cascaded down her shoulders. She took out a small notepad and a pencil from the inside pockets of her denim jacket, scribbled something down then flipped it to show me.

Can you hear me?

I nodded my head slightly in response and gazed back at her eyes. She was so much closer. Her eyes were an intense shade of green with golden flecks and speckled with chestnut brown. They were enthralling, so captivating that I had not realized she was speaking to me until she snapped her fingers together.

“Okay, you can hear me,” she said while nodding her head with a grin. “So, what are you doing here?” She asked as she settled down beside me, one leg propped up with her arm on her knee and the other stretched out in front of her. I gulped when she turned her head to look at me.

My mouth would not open to respond though... How wonderful.

Her eyebrows raised and she opened her mouth slightly, to say something I assumed. She did not speak; instead, she just sighed and closed her mouth. Biting her bottom lip, she turned back to her notepad and wrote something down before tilting it for me to see.

Are you mute?

My eyes narrowed and I shook my head frantically, a little frustrated that she would think I was mute. Then again, I was not exactly replying through spoken words. I stared down at my sleeved hands.

“Sorry, you weren’t talking at all so I thought you might’ve been...” She trailed off, adding in a nervous laugh. Clearing her throat, she averted her gaze from me and inspected the area. I ogled her— yes, definitely ogling her.

“You come here often?” Her voice cut through my mind. I nodded.

She grinned and asked, “so what exactly do you do here?”

Unfortunately, my mouth was still sealed shut in all its glory. She must have caught on that I was not going to talk because, with a nod of her head, she offered the notepad and pencil to me. “You wanna just write it?”

Grasping the pencil and notepad from her reluctantly, I shifted to an Indian sitting position then placed the notepad on my right thigh. I let the pencil flow on the notepad neatly as I wrote and showed it to her.

nothing. this place is beautiful

She grinned at me. “I agree with you. You like being alone?”

The question got me thinking for a moment. Alone as in the friendless, anti-social way or just the kind where you sit down, listen to yourself breathe and forget about life even if it was just for a while?

yes. I wrote, in answer to my second thought.

She sighed In a way that did not sound dull, then leaned back on the bark of the tree. “This place is nice... Can I share it with you?” She spoke with a little uncertainty, likely thinking that I would just push her off and tell her to go away. I nodded my head, then gazed at the notepad and pencil in my hand.

“Yeah?” She reiterated with a bit of elation in her voice. I giggled and looked up at her, mesmerized by her stunning eyes. I could just get lost in all its beauty.

Smiling at her after a long while of silence, I finally got myself to speak. “Yeah.”

She seemed taken aback like I did, even if it was just one short word. Her eyes had widened a little but recovered quickly. She then smiled and showed off her pearly, white teeth. “What’s your name?” She prompted as she picked up a scarlet maple leaf and started twirling it from its petiole.

“Winter McCaslin,” I whispered.

“Winter...” She mumbled, rolling my name with her mouth. “Nice name,” she added with a smile.

To be completely honest, I did not like the name Winter. I would have preferred Autumn among all the four seasons. It is such a beautiful name.

I noticed her take the notepad and pencil from my hands. She started writing something down on a new page. “I have to go now, but I’ll come by another time,” she muttered as she tore the paper from her notepad. Pocketing her notepad and pencil back in her denim jacket, she stood up and brushed off the leaves from her pants.

Handing me the note after folding it in half, she left through to the back of the tree behind me. I stared at the piece of paper, pondering for the reason as to why she had to leave me a note. After a while, I unfolded it and my eyes landed not he cursively written words. My heart started thudding in my chest, faster than it had earlier.

This place is as beautiful as you are, Winter.

— A.

The words made me melt and I could not help but read it again and again. But the initial she left... A? Shit... I did not ask her for her name.

My eyebrows furrowed but I ignored it as I self-assigned a mission to know the next time I meet her. Folding the note again along the crease in the middle, I pushed it into my pocket carefully then got up and off the tree.

For the first time in two years I kept visiting that area, I left with a smile on my face.

“Are you okay?”

My head snapped up from the note I had been staring at for possibly many hours. My mom scrutinized me as she stood atop me from where I was lying— the couch. Her eyes transfixed on mine.

I was somewhat jealous of her eyes, though I did get something in between my parents. Her eyes were this soft shade of grey while my dad had the same colour in a serious, darker shade. Like ashen. Mine was like the grey you would find in a box of coloured pencils— plain, boring grey.

“I asked if you were okay, honey,” she repeated, afterwards adding, “and what is that?”

My cheeks reddened, I was sure of it. I folded the note and put it back in my long, leather wallet. “I’m okay, Ma. And it’s just a note,” I mumbled and sat up on the couch without breaking eye contact with her.

She raised an eyebrow at me. “You’ve been smiling all day, which I find weird,” she spoke. Rolling my eyes, I jumped off the couch then headed towards the kitchen. Sometimes, I hated it when she was being direct and honest with whatever she wanted to say. Seriously, what was so weird about grinning at a heart-melting note that some unnamed girl gave to you?

... It was not weird at all.

My mom followed me into the kitchen with a laundry basket in her hand. She carefully placed it on the floor by the doorway. There was barely any clothes in the basket since both of us barely used any throughout the week. You could just put something on to wear indoors, outdoors and to sleep.

I felt a nudge on my waist and I whipped my head to my dark brown-haired mother who had a smirk on her face. “Did you finally get a boyfriend?”

“No...” I responded, dragging the word longer than I usually did. Opening the cabinet above the sink, I took out a drinking glass while she nodded to herself, as if analyzing my response.

“Something’s fishy around here,” she remarked a few seconds later.

I stepped over to my fridge while rolling my eyes. “Ma, I have no reason to get a boyfriend. Besides, high school is ending soon, so why the need to get one when we’re just going to break up in the end?” I explained as I took a carton of mango juice from the fridge. I poured myself a glass and sipped— no, I took a huge gulp. Mango juice is the best.

“I’m just excited for you to get your first date, honey,” my mom sighed in defeat. She walked over to me and faced me as I leaned against the counter.

“Please, Ma. Don’t be,” I quipped back before taking another gulp of juice. Her hand suddenly reached up for my tied up hair. She pulled off the tie and let my light, caramel brown hair cascade down to my chest. My hair was very long compared to hers, though mine were straight and hers were wavy. I got it from my dad.

“It looks better when you put it down,” she stated, placing my hair tie on the counter with a smile.

“But it’s so ticklish like a... Like an irritating mouse,” I grumbled. Placing my glass down, I reached for the hair tie. I wore it around my wrist instead, giving my mother some much appreciated time to see me with my hair down.

After I finished my glass of juice, I placed it in the sink and headed out, only to be called back to wash it. I obeyed anyway. She was way too sweet to go against.

I flopped down on my bed, letting the comfort of it take me to a heavenly paradise. I wished I could bring it to my escapade down at the park. Taking out my wallet, I pulled out the note again. For the millionth time that day, it made me grin and get fluttery in my stomach.

I fell asleep with the note in my hand.