Autumn

I pedaled down the silent street, the golden-yellow leaves swaying and rustling over my head. The crisp breeze blew into my face, bringing a rosy color to my cheeks. Welcoming houses were on either side of me, decorated with scarecrows, pumpkins, and ghosts, and smelling of caramel apples and hot chocolate.

After a while I rode past the neighborhood and onto an open dirt road, where rolling hills of corn rose up, tall and lush, on one side of the road. On the other side, row after row of juicy red apples were hanging on thick branches, ready to be picked, cleaned, tumbled, and sold. As I pedaled on, I came upon two little pink-cheeked girls selling toasted pumpkin seeds and hot cider on the side of the road. I stopped and gratefully gulped the cup of steaming cider that was given to me and talked with them for a while. Then, dropping some change into their cup, I smiled thankfully at them and mounted my bike.

As I rounded the next corner the tall rows of corn and juicy apples turned into fat orange pumpkins entangled in curly green vines. They sat lazily on the ground, displaying their speckled orange skin, waiting for someone to come along and pluck them off of their stems and take them home.

For I while I just rode on, taking in all of the colorful sights around me. Coming upon a softly trickling stream, I decided to stop and rest for a minute. I hopped off my bike and took it down to the water a ways from the road. Sitting it up against a tree, I lay down and gazed into the perfectly blue sky, admiring the beautiful world around me. As I rested there, watching the brightly colored leaves float leisurely down the creek, I found myself falling into a peaceful sleep and dreamed about my favorite season. Autumn.

Grace, 15, MI

Published in the Fall 2011 edition of CK