REMEMBER is a place from long ago...
I had a sudden desire for the smell of leaves. That rotting, earthy, dying smell of leaves. Somehow it did not depress, but rather inspired my imagination to think back on a time of smiles and laughter. I can hear the laughter now, echoing in that strangely cold afternoon. The wind moving like a ghost, slow motion even, pulling at leaves and taking them into a flight down onto the semi-frozen ground. Those piles of leaves, a rainbow of color- wet and streaked with dirt, but with hair wild and trying to go in every direction at once, we did not care. The plunge into colors was all we cared about. We waited until the very moment where that pile was as big as a mountain and as wide as the sea. Always wanting to be the first one to jump in, we gave ourselves a running start. Perhaps we even held our breath right before the fall. All I remember is that rolling in those damp, dead leaves was so exciting and fantastic that peals of laughter could not be held in. Oh, and the smell! If anything the smell of Autumn leaves, the crunch they make, the way they float down, unafraid to die, that smell will remind me what happiness is. As I walked, the surprising warmth of the October day was accompanied by the strong wind-that wind that I had forgotten. Leaves of red, orange, and yellow became the road under my feet. Their familiar crunch made the sides of my mouth tug into a smile. Then something inside me cried out from somewhere; my heart, my soul, the back of my mind, wherever memories go: I had a sudden desire for the smell of leaves.