Before You Say Goodbye

CHP 13: LIFE LESSONS?

It was a serene autumn morning and the fall season had just begun, with the trees shedding their leaves. It was one of the most beautiful sights one could ever imagine of experiencing. It was just like a second spring where every leaf appeared to be a flower and left the branches gently with a sight of hope and pleasantness invading. It was almost like life beginning all over again.
Autumn season accurately explains to all of us how sometimes it's beautiful to let go of things, how sometimes it's okay to leave, (but not always though).
It was one of the mornings Cheryl loved the most. From the very beginning, she was fond of the Autumn season. She used to compare herself to the tree on which the leaves grow, shine brightly, have the pleasure of the winds in spring, survive the scorching heat of summer, and lastly, leave with a Goodbye. Cheryl always thought that she was the tree and the people around her were the leaves, they came, they had good times together, survived every heated moment together and in the end, left, leaving the tree alone.
Quite disheartening, right? But it always gave Cheryl the hope that someday or the other, someone would surely come into her life and stay with her like a tree branch and not like a leaf. Someone would stay with her through all the thick and thin, sturdy like the branch. She had lost her parents at a quite young age, just like withered leaves and till date, she hadn't found any new people to come to her and be her branch or even a small leaf. She had been all alone throughout. She expected and dreamed of making some great friends at her high school.... which she DID, but in the end, even they left just like the autumn leaves. Though Cheryl was always calm and composed in every situation, this time, something was different. She wasn't even the tiniest bit calm, she hadn't been going to school for a week, nor to Bernard's, nor did she pick up any landline telephone, and neither did she open the door for anyone to come in. She was actually living in a house of books and walls while experiencing no emotions apart from regret and hate towards her own self. But she knew she would come out of this one day. And she felt today, the first day of autumn was that one day she was thinking of.
"Good morning to me haha!" said Cheryl to herself. "So autumn has arrived, hmmm... let's leave all this crappy negativity aside, throw it in the corner of the room and whoooshhh let's go and live life at its best! C'mon Cheryl, you can do it...enough whining" she continued to say to herself.
Cheryl was a girl of her words and had immense willpower. She used to hate being sad, gloomy, and feeling negative. This period was one of the worst episodes of her life but still, she tried to approach everything with positivity and a  happy feeling.
Cheryl hadn't had any food for a week. She had been surviving on just water and some chocolates and thus, had been able to save quite a good amount of money; she had managed to save a good 421$ and today she planned to get ready with a different approach and go have her breakfast at an extravagant and lavish cafe. Then later, go to Bernard's restaurant and do some work there.
She locked her house and started to walk towards the city side. But this time, though she felt like she was all positive, on the inside everything was dull. She saw the clouds wrapping the sun covering it entirely and filling the whole world with darkness, without a ray of light. The trees looking as if yawning while crying at the same time, only to see their beloved leaf friends fall off, and then the trees feeling lonely all of a sudden. As she advanced towards the city, she gazed at the massive buildings, the cars, but this time, it didn't seem at all fascinating; in fact, it felt all dull and dark.
Our dear Readers, observe how sometimes, we think we are all healed and feeling positive; we pretend to fool ourselves by thinking we are happy when in fact, we feel all broken and gloomy on the inside.
Similarly, Cheryl was going through all these emotions all at once. But, she thought it was just her mind playing games with her and so, she ignored it and went to a lavish cafe where she treated herself with an Alfredo Pasta alongside cheesecake as dessert. After finishing her breakfast, she advanced towards Bernard's cafe.