It was full autumn, but she was leaving. She came to my house early; spending her days with me and my family, who, at that time, she had already become close with. And, in the afternoon, she sometimes took me to the place where we first met and the other places we had been.
"I almost got you killed here"
she said while standing in the middle of the road where she once crashed into me.
"Did I tell you that you had a lovely smile? And that you were funny when you looked like an idiot? But you were not an idiot, only dazed"
she continued talking
"I was hoping that you would ask for my name—eventually you did"
she smiled that time but looked sad.
"What can I do, you bewitched me from that day on"
I smiled back at her and held her hand. We continued our walk from every place we've been until we reach the lake.
"I still want to be a lake, Kate"
I whispered.
"Then I will keep on coming back here to seek calmness, blissfulness, and rekindled memories"
she whispered back.
We were already walking back home. She tried to be cheerful even though we both knew that the other was in pain, but I tried to look natural and calm, because I didn't wish to make things harder for her.
As always, she sat underneath that same old tree after our long walk from the lake. The leaves were fully shed, and the leaves were all reddish and brownish.
I knew that she liked fall. She loved it, and I don't know why. She called me and asked me to sit beside her
"Do you want to know a secret?"
she spoke coolly.
"What secret?"
I was awed.
"The reason why I love the fall and why I keep coming back here?"
she gently said while looking away. I was paying attention to her every word as she continued
"When I was a little girl, my parents brought me here. It was fall that time. Their marriage was, I guess, a little shaky, but still they both decided to try it out. There was one time that I kind of got lost. I was trying this new bike that my dad bought me, but I went too far from where we were staying. The pedal kind of loosened its screw, so I fixed it. And, forgetting that I was in the middle of the road, I turned around and saw a car coming. I froze and could not seem to move from where I was standing. Then I saw this boy running and he pulled me. He saved me. He saved my life. I was still shocked from what happened and cried and cried. My bike was already crashed on the side then this boy talk to me and told me that it's okay because he's there. He let me sit on this same tree we're sitting on right now. He even walked me home, and did that piggy back thing you did with me. I can not seem to forget that—when that boy said good bye, he told me that he'll be back in the afternoon, but my parents were pretty scared from the accident and decided to leave. I never even got to say goodbye, I never even got his name, and I don't even know if he went back in the afternoon to see me."
I was stunned by what Kate had just opened up to me. I didn't know if it was just coincidence, because I was that boy.
"I came back Kate, I did"
just like me, she was stunned,
"Sean?"
she slowly uttered
"So I finally get to know his name now."
...
