Leaves...

This is my fiction assignment #2 for my Imaginative Writing course.

The breeze chilled and the leaves shook with fear of autumn’s brisk hand. The verdant leaves greeted the morning sun. Below walked a world of foreign steps, always moving, chatting. People passed under and occasionally their gaze would wander up and for a moment we’d stare at each other. My green veins twinkled when the sun shone. I danced in the melodies and songs of spring and summer. It was colder now and people didn’t stop and look near as often. I missed catching the eye of wanderers, so full of light and joy.

For a few weeks the mother and her daughter would follow the side-walk that looped around the lake. The stroller wheels clicking methodically and the girl’s feet would bounce as she sang another gibberish song. They would stop at the old wooden bench and sit looking down the embankment to the water far below. After awhile, the mother would take her small hand and lead her back to the stroller. The girl never fussed, but always looked back over her shoulder in wonder at the murky water.

Today was different, the air bit and people walked quickly through the park bundled in scarves urging retrievers and spaniels to hurry their pace. My brilliant green faded now to a crimson red with a splash of orange. For weeks, my companions of red and gold would catch a gust and break free from the branch in one last marvelous dance spinning and dipping until coming to rest on the ground, their purpose finished. The mist settled like an unwelcome hug, nearly suffocating the land. The fog rolled in and out with menacing ease which blew and shook the branches flinging more and more red and golden tears to the ground. Hundreds of leaves laid to rest in their original colors sprinkling the ground like candy.

The mother looked tired today. The stroller squeaked and the girl’s bouncing pink boots peeked out from the seat. A matching pink hat and mittens bundled her and staved off the threatening clouds. She didn’t wait to be unbuckled but swiftly unhinged herself and jumped out standing in triumph. She waddled over to the naked rose bush and inspected the branches and thorns left behind in autumns pull. She found a small bug crawling and touched it. She giggled when it jumped and curled itself into a ball. I giggled too and bounced on the branch watching.

The ringing broke through the air and sliced the silence like a knife. The mother haphazardly searched through her purse and grabbed the phone. Her voice was strained, her body tense and exhausted, silhouetted in the fog. She paced back and forth, her caustic tone biting remarks into the receiver. She turned her back and put her hand to her forehead still arguing. I studied her and wondered what made the people below so frenzied, so bitter. I switched from her and my gaze rested on the girl. The girl! Where was she? I panicked and twisted and found her at the edge of the bank staring down to the water below. I shook and tried to scream my warning: GET BACK! She leaned down to look closer and the dirt gave way and she abruptly fell nearly seven feet and splashed into the water. It could barely be heard over the mother’s loud rambling into the phone. HELP! I screamed below. I twisted and jerked to grab the mother’s attention, she must see me, she must see my flashing red. I heard a snap and suddenly I lurched forward. The world was spinning and tossing me rapidly; the scene became skewed and blurred below. I screamed and twisted fighting to gain control, all I heard was screaming and feet pounding. “HELP! Oh God, oh GOD Emma! Someone HELP ME!” More splashing and screaming and crying and pleading. I couldn’t see; I couldn’t find where they were. I crashed into the pavement and felt the rumble of footsteps reverberating through me. My fire red stomped on as the screams drew attention. The pounding and beating of feet until nothing but a red imprint was left on the gray rock. Nothing but a skeleton of danger.