The children laugh and play, basking in the careless bliss of Summer. It is a time when responsibilities can be cast aside, and spending time with their friends comes first and foremost. The skies are alive with clear nights and glorious sunsets, and each day is another relaxing, lackadaisical adventure. However, even now, in the midst of Summer, the first leaves begin to fall and the breeze starts to pick up, a sobering reminder that Autumn is on the way.
The boy knows that nothing lasts forever. He notices the first leaf start to crumble and eventually descend from the mighty aspen with whom it was so long bonded. He feels a twinge of sadness in his stomach, a sense of nostalgia for the Summer, whose days now seem numbered, limited, and finite as they haven’t felt until now. The boy knows that the seasons change, but it is always hard for him to watch the leaves start falling. He sees them fall, one by one, in different directions, and realizes with a sigh that they always appear to fall further from the tree than the year before. The happy unity and carelessness of Summer begins to fade away, blowing away with the Autumn wind.
As the temperature cools, so, too, does the boy’s heart. He constantly finds himself longing for Summer, reminiscing on memories made with those now gone. He imagines Summer, when he can finally be together again with his friends and family, but even amongst such joyous dreams, he realizes that each year, their bonds are a bit weaker. He won’t see some children as much as he wants to, and some won’t even return at all - each year, the leaves fall further from the tree.
The boy wonders why it has to be this way as he sadly watches the leaves, still falling in a melancholy blur of reds and browns. And yet, even as the last leaves fall, even as the children don warmer clothes, and even as the first school bell rings, the boy is filled with resolve. Although Summer may be lost for now, he will not let it’s spirit die. He will never let the spirit of Summer die.
