I am currently enrolled in college to pursue a degree in forensic science. As a side interest of mine, I love to write. I was a very awkward kid (at times I still am) and the best way I expressed myself to others was to write. So, for one of my fall courses, I am taking a short stories class. Below is a short story that I wrote as an introduction to my writing style. The topic was simple- summer. Just anything summer and this is what was written. I hope you enjoy reading and feel a little sense of whimsical afterward.
The Changing of the Seasons
“You were the last person I was expecting,” I leered as I opened the door to a sunny woman. She was smiling, and her cute freckles that mirrored mine showed well enough under her sun hat.
“Well, that’s no way to greet your long lost sister!” the sunny woman beamed. She pushed past me to enter my little cottage of a house and looked around. I spotted her nose crinkling at things I’m sure she disapproved of.
“Yeah, Summer, long lost being the key choice you made.” I retorted as I closed the door to the blistering summer heat. It was the middle of her season, and I did not want an ounce to do with it, nor did I want my bobbed brunette hair to frizz up. It was a pain of a mane to handle.
“Oh, hush, Autumn! Just let me have a look at how my baby sister has grown!” She turned on her heel and grabbed my shoulders in a firm, confident grasp. She looked at me with eager hazel eyes that shined with brightness. Hating the beauty, I swatted at her arms and turned away to head towards the kitchen. I started to put utensils away as if I had nothing better than to talk to my obnoxiously radiant sister. Summer ignored my rudeness and took off her sun hat. She fluffed her famous wavy red hair that all the men goggled over and patted it back down to make herself into the perfect bombshell state. It was a sight to see when they knew Summer was in town. All these men following her around and gawking at her, oh how she loves the attention! Unfortunately, her season was also the one that had all the men out scouring for women wearing less than a dress or pair of pants. It definitely was not my kind of weather.
“Listen, it’s bad enough I’m reminded of you because of the weather, but now you have to barge right into my home and pretend that you’re in charge? I still have a least a month more to recharge, and I don’t want any more distractions.”
“Anymore? What’s wrong? Anything I can help with?” Her attention was hooked on me, and she waited with bated breath. The drama was all she cared about.
“Why are you here? And truthfully.” I said, but I wasn’t expecting anything special. Big sister always had some ulterior motive that involved her gaining something.
“I have a proposition, no, a favor, for you,” she stated straight to the point. I knew I wasn’t going to like where this was going. She always had these crazy ideas, and when she was passionate, it was a fire you couldn’t put out. “How would you feel if you didn’t have to work?” Exasperated, I waved my arms dismissively and turned my back towards her once again. “Hear me out! I can work for a few weeks longer, you’ll have more time to recharge, and by the time Winter takes over, you’ll only have to work maybe two months at most!”
“Oh, sure! Why not continue the global warming scare!” As always, I was brought to the point of giving up on her. I tried to have faith that maybe she was just visiting and perhaps she would bring banana nut muffins or something.
“That’s just a rumor about me, and you know it.” Even as she said it, she didn’t seem bothered. I think she was more invested in my answer.
“I don’t know, they all tend to believe it.” Although the people all loved Summer, a good majority of them couldn’t wait for it to be over by the end. And just then, I had a crazy thought. “Oh, do I have a proposition for you! How about I cut in line and try to have a crack at it? How about I have a longer season?” I felt like I won this game my sister always started.
“Autumn, that’s not reasonable. The leaves would be falling too early, and the colder weather will take them by surprise!” She said a bit desperately. Wait. Did she really care what everyone thought? Yeah right.
“Forget it, Summer! It would be the exact same thing if you stuck around longer! It’s my time to shine!” Summer burst out with a laugh like wildflower honey, but I felt bitter. “What is it?!” I said impatiently.
“It’s just that that’s my job.” Summer said bemused. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, my face flushed. I balled my fists up, but I had nothing more to say. An emotion crossed Summer’s face that I couldn’t quite pinpoint. “You know, I never was really there when it became your time, have I?” Taken aback, I kept silent. She eyed me and continued on. “For me, the attention came so easily. I felt like I didn’t need anyone to help me out. I was confident, maybe even over-confident.” Her voice was laced with an underlying sadness that I only remembered from when the four of us took over the job of the seasons.
It was a simple day. The weather was, well, none of us really cared about the weather at that time. Summer and I were at the orchard picking, but that was before we were the embodiment of Summer and Autumn. Our names were different, but we never went by them again. Our town held a festival every year where everyone who was of age to be a season would go apple picking. I remember our parents brought Summer and me to pick apples. I was so nervous because Summer had already been Summer for two years and I didn’t want to be chosen to be any season at all. Summer had said to me, “Don’t worry about it! You won’t be picked, okay? Don’t stress out!” It hadn’t eased my anxiety at all.
The festival started. We were picking apples by the basketful and having fun. Summer smiled like she didn’t have a care in the world. When we finally got around to filling our basket to the top, I sat down on a wooden bench and grabbed an apple. I bit into it and froze. Summer walked up to me and noticed my face struck with horror. I dropped the apple, and all I could utter was, “It tastes like cinnamon…” Summer made that sad face, and I knew then she wished she was the only special one.
“What made you care all of a sudden? Why now after three years away? Why after three years of me being Autumn?” I was genuinely confused, and it didn’t feel like this was one of her tricks.
“You know, I don’t know. I think I just wanted to see how you were doing after being away for so long. Just checking up to see if you wanted some help,” Summer trailed off. She looked around my house again, this time with a little bit of curiosity. I softened a bit. She was genuinely trying to be nice.
“I really appreciate that you came all this way to see how I was doing. Especially after mom and dad moved away. I’m alright, I’ve got this Autumn thing down. It just takes a bit of practice.” Summer turned and smiled sweetly at me. There was silence. It was awkward, but I felt like we became a little closer.
“Well, if you say you’re good then I trust you. I’ll be heading out now. Take care of yourself, okay?” She walked over to the wooden door, and I went ahead and opened the door for her. We both stepped outside, and both realized something.
“The leaves are falling…” I voiced.
“It’s Autumn.” Summer smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.
Photo by Daniel Ramos on Unsplash