Autumn is a beautiful but pensive poem that falling leaves recite with great enthusiasm so that the world will remember them as they bid farewell to the world. Welcome to my anthology series. Welcome to EQUINOX.
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Samuel hadn't been back home in years since starting law school up north. Now, fresh off passing the bar, he thought it was time to surprise the family for Thanksgiving.
But the plan didn't go quite as expected.
Dinner was a mess. The passive-aggressive mood could be cut with the turkey knife. But what was most surprising was the way his family carried on without him. As if his presence couldn't have made much of a difference. They were functioning just fine. This saddened Samuel a little.
They all had their things going on, particularly the siblings. Eric got a soccer scholarship at Tufts and Lucas was cast as the lead in his high school production of Footloose. And Lizzie. Well, Lizzie was just rolling her eyes the whole time. Like she had somewhere else to be.
A little while later, Samuel saw Lizzie sneaking out, and so he followed her.
He ended up at a local state fair but lost her in the crowd. Now, Samuel was in a swirl of people, not knowing which way to go. He bumped into an old childhood friend, Jensen.
Last time they saw each other, they didn't leave on the best of terms.
They just made small talk. About people they used to know. How the weather was.
"You know, it's good to see you. You haven't been back...in a while.", said Jensen, finally.
"Yeah, well, I didn't exactly feel wanted last time the crew got together," replied Samuel, defensively.
There was an awkward pause.
"We were just being honest, man. Your last visit – you didn't even bother to ask about any of us. How we were doing. It was all about you and what you were up to and we just got fed up," said Jensen.
This surprised Samuel. In high school, he was the smart, tall, and handsome water polo player but he never thought himself to be conceited. But then again, conceited people don't think they're ever too self-involved.
Jensen continued, "We always knew you were going to leave this small town. But damn, if you're going to be here, BE HERE. It's like you can't wait to say goodbye and get back to your other life."
Upon hearing this, Samuel suddenly realized how much everything had changed around him. The water tower was gone. The pond by the parking lot had dried up. Even the old ferris wheel looked tiny to him. He hadn't noticed, until now.
"You're right, I've been kind of an asshole. I guess I thought time would stand still here and I could come back and things would be like how they were before. But people move on and time goes forward, with or without me."
Seeing his friend in a pensive state, Jensen put his hand on Samuel's shoulders.
"Let's catch up more when you come back alright?", said Jensen.
Samuel nodded and Jensen headed to his car. It was getting late.
He saw a young lady with light blue jeans and a hoodie over her brown-hair head. She was looking at the ferris wheel. It was Lizzie.
