Autumn Rising

It’s summer, and your surroundings are filled with golden yellow brilliance under tree limbs that bow in the gentle breeze. The warmth of the light and the song of birds feels eternal. Lying on your back, you sense a slight change in the wind as it tickles your forehead. In the distance, far over the ridge, dark blue clouds dim the light. If you roll over and look to the south, you can ignore the darkness for a little while longer, but you know it’ll be here soon.

The trees above begin to sway in a sudden gust, and a few leaves dance off their branches, swept away by the wind. Your hair catches in the breeze, hindering your sight as it tries desperately to reach for the southern direction. Then, the cold swoops down and embraces you, making you clutch your heart against the chill while leaves whirl around you. So many golden leaves are falling, and you feel all your warmth slipping away. Rolling into a ball, you try to shield yourself from the pelting rain that now bears down on you. Your summer is slipping away. Determined, you try to hold on, but you lack the power to keep it. Nobody has that power but Zephyrus. In a final gust of wind, you let her go, and all the light fades to darkness.

The blue has turned to the black of night, but the full moon appears behind Borea’s harsh forces, bathing the land in its milky glow. You rise up from your huddle, and you are alone. The branches stand still, and not a single sound can be heard. The moon is so bright it casts your shadow, and that’s when you see it. Quickly now! A lone songbird dives through a pile of fallen ginkgo leaves, carrying one off in its beak as it flies toward the south. A ginkgo leaf for a memory, or maybe for hope. Perhaps it’s nothing at all—just the autumn rising.

Be at peace! Nothing is eternal, but seasons return. There is gratitude in every moment of light and darkness.

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Title of artwork, Autumn Rising

Made with Ipencil on an IPad