Our Timely Inclination

I

Autumn was still at large, the trees continued to moult, creating larger bundles of leaves day by day. Thin grass, moss, ran almost every surface so that the green encompassed all the bedding in its natural domain. The sunlight sprung through the remainder of what these countless English oak had left to sprout. Honeysuckles and daisies, chrysanthemums, deadly nightshade, creatures of day and night, the woodland was practically teeming with life. Most who came here had never seen such natural beauty as this, making it a popular spot for wayfarers. But alas, today the forest was near empty of individuals, which was most unusual.
Apart from the gentle whisper of the wind, curling through each crevice, the erratic singing of the warblers, the crack of twigs striking stone, there was a humming sound that was unmistakably produced by a human voice. The young girl, Talia was wondering these woods. Her range, her tone, it was euphonious. Though her tune was authentic, it carried a sense of nostalgia or familiarity. She sauntered down the dirt path, taking in this prepossessing sight. After some time she eventually found herself near the edge of the lake. Talia stopped, taking it in for a moment, taking a large breath to absorb these fragrances, the woods were appealing to all senses. Just like the forest, the lake was also a  home and a resource for life. Dragonflies hovered above the deep clear water, creating ripples in its surface as they flew. Rabbits and mice sat together shortly across the lake, chewing on bulbs and other vegetation, seemingly unafraid or unaware of a single fox that creeped nearby. An incalculable amount of fish also swam in these waters, occasionally leaping from wherever they hid. Talia took her eyes of the landscape and sat down where she stood, only loosing sense of focus for a moment before looking back towards the lake. No more than ten minutes pass, with silence maintained throughout, before one noise is heard from Talia's right side. Austen was now striding down the footpath, he had his hands in the pockets of his grey hoodie and a heavy backpack on, his face was flushed as he moved towards her.
Talia turns and immediately her face lit up like the sunlight she bathed in. Talia motions her hand as to point Austen to sit with her on the bank.

"Hi Austen, did you bring the blanket?"
"Y-Yeah"
"Good, let us set it up here."

Austen slowly takes off his bag, placing it on the ground he proceeds to pick out a red and black checkered blanket, along with several boxes of assorted goods, from home-made triangle sandwiches to victoria sponge cake.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting all this, thank you"
"That's alright"

Talia places a hand on his. To this Austen shudders, still sensitive to any form of touch, even from a close friend. Talia subtly smiles at this example of uneasiness, giving his hand a light squeeze, she lets go and folds the blanket over so they both may sit. They each remained mostly still in silence for how ever long, taking in the magnificent display of nature together.

Austen then fidgets before saying,
"It's a bad thing that we live so far away from each other."
"Oh?"

Talia raises a brow and turns to face Austen, waiting patiently for an answer whilst also picking between a sandwich and a biscuit.

"I-I just mean that, what I mean is that, I uh wish we could live closer so that we could
m-meet like this more often."
Austen's fidgeting escalates and he stares at the blanket.

They are both too engaged with each other to notice the fox has drawn closer to one of the rabbits across one side of the lake, leaping at the chance, the fox claimed its bounty, holding the muted animal between its jaws, parading around with it before disappearing from sight.

"I wish we did too", Talia finally replied.

There is more silence between the two, apart from the chewing of food. Whether this is recurrent because of Austen's inability to shake his timorous bearings, or the attentiveness between each of them towards this enchanting bed of water, it is unestablished.

"Alright"
Talia says shaking as she stands and wipes her knees free of dirt and blades of grass.
"Let's take a walk"