Beyond the Crimson Groves of Sycamore Pointe

Beyond the Crimson Groves of Sycamore Point

Beyond the Crimson Groves of Sycamore Pointe

By: K.C. Vente

                  Cool breeze, auburn leaves, and the glimmering sunlight. These are all the aspects that make autumn my favorite season. Sure, winter is great for Christmas and New Years; and summer is the time of the year where baseball, barbeques and bikini girls certainly have their appeal. However, the Fall Season is different with its own unique charms. It's that time of the year where the air gets colder, the sun sets earlier, and the fallen leaves give you another reminder of just how fragile life can be. 

                  So instead of my usual Saturday morning routine of sleeping in until noon and waste a good chunk of my day, I rolled myself out of bed at 8:30 AM and decided to go for a casual walk in the local forest preserve near my house. I grabbed a pair of blue jeans, running shoes, and a black North Face windbreaker. The moment I stepped out onto the front porch, I was immediately met with a brisk gust of wind. As brown and orange leaves flew around me, I quickly turned around to close the door so that none of the leaves could get in.

                  After locking the front door, I felt another strong breeze. This time I felt its coldness creep up through my jacket and shirt, then immediately my body broke out in goose bumps.  Although it was technically autumn, I never experience such a cold day in October before. I bet if the temperature dropped a few more degrees I could have seen my breath. I quickly zipped up my jacket as I stepped off the porch and walked down the driveway.

                  My neighborhood has been quiet for a while. Though it was very different when I was a kid.  In fact, when I was seven years old, I moved into this mild-mannered suburban town, which at the time it was a new subdivision. I was actually surprised at how many kids there were in the area. Even more so astonished at how many were around my age as well. I remembered days when my mom practically had to drag me back inside the house because my new friends and I were too caught up in the seriousness of backyard sports Pick up football games, backyard baseball, and bike rides in between filled up most of my childhood days.

                  But times have changed and these days most kids would rather stay glued to their gaming consoles instead of their bikes. So I wasn't really surprised when I saw the neighborhood was mostly desolate, especially given how early it was. As I strolled through my neighborhood, I followed the sidewalk that led to the north side of the neighborhood where the forest preserves lies.

                  Within a few minutes I caught sight of an old wooden plaque situate at the forest line. The sign read: Marquis County, SHEOL FOREST PRESERVE. However, low hung branches and over grown bushes obscured parts of the plaque and it simply read: SHEOL FOREST. 

                  A sudden gust of wind rustled up fallen leaves and twirled them around in a mini-cyclone of fire colors. I turned my attention toward the tall oak trees that are now adorned with bright yellow or dark orange leaves. The colors contrasted perfectly to the clear blue sky above them. It was a perfect day.

                  As the autumn winds guided me past the entrance of the forest I found someone else was enjoying the weather as well.  Ahead of me stood a slender woman about 5 foot tall. She wore grey Nike Roshe Runs, black jogging pants, and a burgundy Nike hoodie with the Swoosh logo on the front of it. I didn't get a chance to see her face as she had her back turned to me. Suddenly, in one smooth motion she bent down and touched the center of the ground between her legs. I'd be lying if I said that her attire didn't compliment her body very well.

                   Then as I maintained my walk on the path and gradually got closer to her, the woman straightened up and slowly twisted her torso from left to right. I could see that she wore a black baseball cap and that she had tied her hair up into a ponytail. As I was about to move past, when she turned and met my gaze. Those big emerald eyes were still looking at me as she maintained her stretching pose. And unless I was mistaken, I could've sworn a small smile appeared as I walked past her. When I turned my head to look back at her, she proved that I was correct and confirmed so with a friendly wink.