The Keepers: Fall

Chapter III: Piper

The Portal

Fall is for goodbyes.

            For when you leave behind pain and suffering, to take a leap towards joy and happiness. For when you forget all the bad things in life and focus on the various shades of reds, yellows, and oranges. Saying goodbye to your nightmares, and entering your dreams to get lost in the most amazing after-rain smell that you've been waiting for all year. Blocking out hopelessness and desperation, to listen to the sound of leaves crunching beneath your boots. Ignoring insults and bullies, just to feel the crisp Autumn air on your face.
           

Winter is for fun.

            For all the snowball fights and gingerbread in the world. Smiling snowmen, squeals of delight, and even fruitcake. Yeah, you heard me, fruitcake. From snow days to gifts under the Christmas tree, and even just the sheer pleasure of decorating your house with twinkling lights. Feeling the steaming cups of hot cocoa burn down your throat as you drink it, yet not stopping for one second to let it cool down. All those times you stayed outside sledding to point where you nearly got frostbite, all those restless nights spent waiting for Santa to come and finding the cold as an excuse to cuddle up close with those you love.

Spring is for beginnings.

            When you see tulips, lilies, roses, and daffodils in bloom, and wonder at their life. At how they have the strength to start over every spring, and still look beautiful. For when bears come out of their holes and caves, to witness the start of a new beginning in their world, where the sun comes out from behind the clouds and smiles down upon us. Chirping birds fly home from the south, and bees start preparing for another year of hard work. Gone is the cold, white snow, replaced by fields of lush, green grass. No more bone bare trees and dull grays. Instead, thick canopies of leaves shade us from the sun, and busts of color bring us joy. In spring, we're all in bloom, from the tallest tree to the tiniest bug.

Summer is for freedom.

            For when school's out, and you're free. Free to sleep in, talk late into the nights, and be as lazy as you want to be. No more exams, no more homework, and no more annoying teachers reminding you of your place. In summer, you can be whoever you want to be, and go wherever you want to go. Free to travel, free to play, and free to scream at the top of your lungs, nobody can tell you what to do. You can play outside till the sun goes down, just to hear the crickets sing their summer song, and lay in fields of green, just to smell the sweetness of the flowers. No worries, no trouble, just the warmth of the sun, and you.

                                                                                                  *********

“Oi!” 

            Lifting my nose from my book, just as I suspected, I caught sight of an oversized pig marching towards a neighbouring table. By oversized pig, I mean a fat man in khaki shorts and a sweat-stained t-shirt. 
            American, I thought. 
            It's always so easy to tell them apart from the rest of the world if you just look at the way they walk, heads held high and noses in the air like they're better than everyone around them.  
           
Arrogant pricks. 
           
            When the man had cried out, several surprised heads had turned towards him, for it was highly unusual for someone to make so much noise in the calm of The Willow, one of London's most renowned cafés. Yet it was also highly unusual for 11-year-old girls to turn invisible, fly around in their nightgowns, or think of something and have it appear out of thin air. 
           
Especially if they're able to do all three.
           
            Oddities put aside, it was quite fun having “special abilities”, as some put it. You could fly around at night, scaring the absolute hell out of other kids by rapping on their windows, for example. I had a lot of fun doing that with one boy in particular, until he left for Canada. What was his name again, Jude? June? Something with a "J".  
           
            Dreaming things up out of thin air also proved to be quite useful too, and as a result, there was no such thing as a locked door in my life. The most helpful ability of them all, however, the one every pickpocket wished they had, was invisibility. Now some people might use that power to steal priceless paintings, while others might decide to ignore it.