My contribution to this week’s writing prompt–Autumn–at The Community Storyboard.

Autumn Memories

the air is crisp and seeps through my sweater and a flannel shirt to cool my skin

the leaves are bursting into a riot of yellow, gold, orange, magenta, blood red

all there is to eat is mulled cider and  pumpkin pie spiced with ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon

when I was a child, my cat would start sleeping with me again,

instead of spending her night roaming, hunting mice in the cornfields

dry, crunchy leaves raked into mountains in which my brother and I would hide,

waiting for the low rumble of our mother’s car as she pulled into the driveway after work,

jumping up and showering leaves on her as her tired feet carried her down the walkway

the thick sweet smell of candle wax and pumpkin pulp

the flickering light of jack o’lanterns peeking out from neighbors yards in the black of night,

their serrated smiles and angled eyes making me uneasy

Autumn was a pause in life, a time to let things go,

a time to enjoy the beauty of decay and death

Always confident that Spring would eventually come