My dear, Summer.

"Look at Spring... the mother of all terrestrial beings. Look as she nurtures them so warmly. I wish I could do that." Summer rocks herself to and fro, attempting to console herself. Her eyes, usually creased from laughter, stream with tears. Her body shakes, a symptom of her all-engulfing melancholia.

"Listen here. You may not be Spring but you are Summer.

The only season where light overcomes dark. A season where people stop hiding and step out into the sun. A season where life is set on hold, if only for a moment. A time where anything seems possible; you are the giver of all things good, Summer. The season of jubilance, do not forget that."

Summer brushed the tears away from her face. She looked at the down at Earth.

"See there in the field?" she points, "Can you see it, Summer?" Summer looks. A woman wraps her arms around a man. Petals are strewn in her hair and her body moves slowly, chest rising and falling, rising and falling, as if from strenuous activity. Her lover's head rests in her lap and she leans down to plant a kiss on his waiting lips. 

"And look over there..."

Three young boys run towards the ocean, all excitement and no common sense. It laps at their ankles and the coming waves lash at their knees. They thrash. The ocean engulfs their scrawny bodies and they tumble over one another; drowning on ecstatic bursts of laughter that erupt from tiny mouths. In that moment they are infinite. 

A nearby street holds crowds of people, gripping thin strands of material in assorted colours. Like miniature jack-in-the-boxes they dip and rise, dip and rise; dancing under the malpole.  It seems as though the whole town is set in a moment of euphoria, if only for an instant. 

Vendors swarm around the assembly much like a colony of bees around their queen, selling cones of ice cream, glistening in the summer heat, flamboyant cloths in assorted hues and plenty of cold beverages. On a market stall fresh fruit are lined on a thin gingham sheet. The owner cries, "Pound-a-bowl, pound-a-bowl.." beckoning customers closer and closer to his stand.

She looks over at the crying girl. 

"My dear summer..." She edges closer to the sobbing Season, wrapping her slender arms around Summer's shaking body, drawing her hands into her own. She leans in, locking eyes with Summer, wiping away the tears. "don't cry."