Endless Autumn
Part 1
It was a Tuesday evening. The sky was gray and full of weeping clouds, and the wind was blowing softly through the yellow leaves of old trees scattered on the side of a lonely road. Daryl just came back home from the library. He never understood why and when autumn prevailed over the other seasons. People tell stories about places where the sun shines for hours, where the birds swing happily on branches of colorful trees. They speak of fields covered with bright grass and unending waves of vibrant flowers that bring joy to anyone who is lucky to lay eyes on them. Most people think all these stories are myths. Here, in the land of the real, the sun visits on rare occasions, and flowers are considered exotic and can only be seen in the weddings of billionaires.
It was raining. There was no shortage of that. And when it rains, it feels like an angry god opened the gates of a restless lake and released a furious waterfall.
His dog, Luna, was waiting for him. She was sitting by the window looking at people passing by with the curiosity of a little kid. When she saw him, she ran to the door to give him the mandatory hug once he opened the door. The house was at the edge of the small city he lived in. It wasn’t a fancy one. It was a one story house with one bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a shower. Cracks on the walls, old carpet covering the ancient floor, and unstable electricity. Nonetheless, he always felt at peace once he came home and saw his dog.
Daryl met Luna 4 years ago. He remembers that day like it was yesterday. It was raining in such intensity it felt like the world was going to drown. But suddenly, as if someone flipped a switch, the rain stopped and the sun shone like a queen on her day of coronation. He went for a run in the nearby forest. He likes how secluded that part of the city is. It always fills his body with feelings of peacefulness. And that day the feelings were amplified. He didn’t know why exactly.
While he was running through the forest, he heard a faint sound coming from somewhere. He felt a weird urge to follow the sound. So he did. Under a huge pile of yellow and orange leaves, he found a little puppy. Although he is no expert in canine breeds, he recognized this one as a German shepherd. The little creature looked at him with some sort of recognition and with a call for help. He picked her up, and she immediately started licking him. They never spent a day apart ever since.
He prepared her favorite food and put her bowl under the window next to the water one. She looked at him thankfully, rushed to her food, and annihilated it within a few minutes. The sky started crying heavily. He knew this rain was probably going to last a few days, so he decided to get some progress on a book he was reading about octopuses and how smart they are. He prepared a cup of hot tea, laid down on the couch, grabbed the book, and started reading.
He felt a cold wet thing on his face. He opened his eyes and saw Luna sitting next to him. The book was on the floor. Luckily Luna decided not to taste it. Three hours have passed since he came home. He must have been very tired to have slept this deeply. He let her out to the back yard to play like they always do in the evening. He noticed that the rain had stopped, with a hint of sunshine coming from within the clouds, trying hard to tear them apart. He felt a weird urge to go for a walk, an urge he is familiar with. He let Luna back inside, put on his light blue jacket which had scratches on both sleeves, his gray sneakers, and headed out. He started walking aimlessly. He felt like he was floating on a river, and the river was taking him to a place he had never seen before. The sun seemed to be getting the upper hand over the clouds, and there was a gentle breeze flying through the trees, caressing him softly on his face, and bringing in the heartwarming smell of wet leaves.
On the corner of the intersection of the road he was walking on and the one leading to the nearby lake, he saw a man wearing a blue jacket, very similar to his, facing away. On his side there was a dog sitting patiently. It was a German shepherd, just like his dog. He continued toward them with the intention of greeting the man and petting the beautiful dog. When he was a few meters behind them, the man turned to face him. Daryl froze in place. He was feeling something he never felt before. A shock maybe. Because he was looking at a man who looked similar to him. Exactly like him. Millions of thoughts started racing through his head. Do I have a twin? Am I dreaming? Hallucinating? Am I dead?
The signs of perplexity and confusion was obvious on Daryl’s face, but the same cannot be said about the man facing him. On the contrary. The man had a look of recognition. It actually felt like he was waiting for Daryl on this exact spot. ‘Hi’ he said. ‘My name is Daryl. This is Lucy. You must have met her daughter. Maybe Luna is her name? Anyway, I can see the confusion on your face. I know exactly how you feel. Believe me.’ Daryl, our Daryl, was trying hard to process the words coming from this man’s mouth. His brain was raging with thoughts like a whirlwind ravaging everything in its wake. The other Daryl tried to lock eyes on him and said ‘I can explain everything. Shall we go back to our house and talk? I can then tell you about the place I come from. The world I come from. I think you will like it’.