A Promise

Fall found me on concrete, amid construction fences and tides of rain. The first cool breeze brought the smell of fallen, crunchy leaves, earthy sweetness ready for a long dormancy. I saw them first on the pavement- stray leaves of faded brown and yellow and the breeze pointed my head skyward and I saw them glittering in the light rain, against the soft, gray clouds- canopies of colored vines strewn across the red bricked buildings. They’d claimed over half the façade and the green gave way to red.

The rain may have stopped. The sun may have peaked out. People may have floated past.

I wanted to fall into that moment, let the autumnal promise engulf me with soft, wet earth and rusty pine-strewn trails, let it breath calm and warmth and satisfaction back into me. Ancient forests towered above me, aching for sun while their year’s beauty lay mashed under my boot prints; the ocean sent her reassuring winds to blanket me in warmth and love.