Copyright © 1997 Walt Zientek

She had come to hate Autumn. Cold and gray. The colorful leaves, now a
daunting, nuisance chore. The old cliches were true. The shortened days.
The dying of the year. A time for endings.

She dropped a tape into the VCR. Old home movies made into video. A
lifetime passing even faster than it really does.

The screen showed her own back yard. In Autumn. In the corner stood
the swings. She smiled.

"God," she thought, "How long ago was that?"

A giant pile of leaves had been built nearby. A leggy pup ran into view.
He stopped, sniffed the air and dove head first into the pile. The leaves
came alive with motion.

The pup emerged. And then a little girl with long blonde hair. And then
a smaller, even blonder girl wiggled from the pile. The three young ones
laughed and jumped and ran around the leaves. One by one, they looked
up and faced the house.

"Hi Mommy!" they shouted on the silent film. They waved and the pup ran
off the screen.

**********

"Hey Mom! Hey Mom! Come and look at the dog!" she heard from out back.

She stepped out onto the porch and looked out toward the shed that had
replaced the swings.

A giant pile of leaves had been built nearby. A different, leggy pup ran
into view and dove into the pile. A tall young woman with long blonde hair,
clapped her hands. A second, slightly younger girl, ran over to join the fun.
The three young ones laughed and jumped and danced around the leaves.
One by one, they looked up toward the house.

"Hi Mom!" the girls shouted as they waved.

She raised her hand and waved back and smiled her biggest Mother's smile.
But she didn't answer back. She didn't quite trust her voice.