keep your / hand on the rail / if / all / else fails

<< Friday, Jul. 15, 2005 - 10:32 am >>
an unhappy ending

he always thought that he'd fall in love in autumn. he didn't exactly plan on this, but he knew deep down that he'd meet his perfect match, the woman of his dreams in autumn. it was more of an instinct that stayed with him ever since he was a child. his mother had once told him that it was also the time when she'd met his father. they'd had their first picnic together under a tree whose leaves had turned into the deepest red colour.

several autumns passed by and he soon found himself 12, then 19, then 25 years old and so on. soon it dawned on him that his dream would never come true. every autumn he spent alone had left him scarred and hurt.

so by the time he reached 30, he was terrified of the season, seeking solace in classical poetry and video rentals but his nights remained cold and dreary. his numerous pets were unresponsive to his moods, and his mother died in a car accident when he turned 32. on the morning of his 34th birthday, he woke up in tears. there was a postcard from a friend in the mailbox and a telephone call from a relative. he had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. then he poured himself some whiskey, and pondered swallowing a bottle of sleeping pills but decided not to: it happened to be the first day of autumn.