5 Minute Reads | Anthology

The Autumn Girl

By FaraMoni7

She walked past the fallen leaves that whispered the sound of her past. 

It was autumn again.

 The autumn wind flew her jet black hair. She clumsily moved it away with her fingers and tucked it behind her ears. 

She used to love these fleeting moments. Before darkness ruled, dusk's great forge setting the evening heavens to burn. 

The same bench the same place, it reminded her of a day years ago. 

She sat on the bench, under the shed of the park. Her eyes darted from the cloudy-pouring sky, waiting for the rain to stop as somebody drooped beside her with a loud thud. She turned her head and found a boy roughly her age staring at her. He had an awkwardly cheerful air about him. 

''Can I be your friend" a wide grin plastered on his face. 

''What a weirdo," she thought to herself. 

But silence took the best of her, she blankly stared at him, noticing his wet eyelashes where the drops of rain had touched. Desperately hoping that he would be the one to break it. 

Oh! At this point of the story I realize that the girl should have a name. Let's call her Autumn. And while we are at it, let's call the boy Rain. 

''I live in the neighbourhood, just moved here with my family. I'm Rain by the way." He put his hand forward. 

She took his hand since it would be rude not to. "Autumn."

She sighed, realising that she had been playing the flashback of their first meeting. A sad smile ghosted on her lips. 

They went to the same school. On his first day Rain went to her. 

"Hey, aren't you that autumn girl? Remember me?" he said enthusiastically. 

Autumn closed her eyes, pretending to have a hard time remembering."Oh! You're Rain, right?" she finally responded.

He nodded, grinning. 

"Oh well, how can I forget someone who calls me autumn girl?" she mused. 

Rain's grin got wider. It was not long before they were inseparable. 

"What is your favourite season" asked Rain. 

"Autumn. The wind, the auburn sky is so fascinating. What's your?" 

"Rainy season because nothing can be more mesmerising then getting drenched by the heavenly drops falling to earth." A smile appeared at the corner of Rain's lips as he stared at the sky. 

"Rainy season, seriously? Rain to me only means catching a cold after getting drenched. Muddy puddles and water logged streets," commented Autumn. 

Rain didn't say anything, just stared at her and laughed.

 "We are like Sherlock and Watson you know, dibs on Sherlock," Rain stated, while walking home from school. 

"Not fair, I wanna be Sherlock," sulked Autumn.

"Fine, you can have him, I'll be Watson then." He didn't mind being her Watson. 

"Oh wait, I have a better example, you and I are like salt and pepper different in taste, but flavourfully perfect. Now, we're both equal." Autumn smiled. 

Rain debated in his head whether to call her imagination weird or unique. "Your way of imagining things is different," he finally spoke. 

On her birthday, he would stay up till midnight, to sing her happy birthday on the phone, even though he knew he was a terrible singer. Spend hours writing songs for her. Because it had to be perfect. 

The sound of a car honk make Autumn shudder, waking her up from her daydream. She stared blankly at the broken park bench, a reminder of old memories, fading memories. She cautiously sat on the left side of the bench, closed her eyes, and started talking. 

"I'll happily be anything, Watson, get drench with you in the rain. Just come back!" she paused, shaking uncontrollably to stop the tears from flowing. 

"I miss those conversation, proper ones not me doing a monologue. And more than anything I miss you. You can hear me, right!" Her voice raised an octave on the last word. 

Who knows what happened? Seasons change and so do people. Maybe this is a story that skips right to the end. Maybe the leaves bled till they dried, an entire forest, reduced to wisps of leaves. 

But what I do know is that when she woke up at night, it hurt like she was suffocating. When she woke it felt cold, grey winter, no matter what the season was.

She closed her eyes wishing it wasn't autumn anymore. "My life and the weather feels incomplete without you Rain," she wispered under her breath.