AN AUTUMN STORY --- by Sonja Goff

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This is a story that our daughter wrote when she was about 13 years old or so... I've always loved it. Our daughter has a great imagination.

AN AUTUMN STORY
© Sonja Goff

I felt so good as I ran out into the crisp autumn air. The trees were dressed in bright colors of the season: reds, oranges, yellows and gold, and the last of the greens. The ground was covered with brown, dead leaves. They crinkled as I ran over them. I couldn't help but to regress to my younger days and roll around in a pile of leaves in the yard.

The leaves filled my lungs with a musty odor and memories of years gone by. I could remember children running through the yard and throwing leaves at each other. Once in a while one of the children would try to stuff leaves in Bob's sweater while he was still wearing it.

Later on in the autumn, families would make scarecrows for the upcoming year and prepare to harvest the pumpkin patches. I always enjoyed the pumpkin harvests. It was exciting to see all the orange spheres sitting in blankets of green leaves. It always surprised me that so many shapes could come from one field. Some of the pumpkins were round, some oblong, and some were even egg-shaped. The sizes of the pumpkins varied from tiny to tremendous.

It was also exciting to see the children make jack-0'-lanterns. I used to love to smell freshly cut pumpkin and chew on roasted seeds.

Jack-o'-lanterns meant that Halloween was here and Halloween meant candy. I used to steal some of the children's candy. The kids used to yell at me for taking it, but it tasted so good!

"Laddie, come here boy!" Bob yelled. I trottled up to the door and licked his hand. "You ready to come in, you old dog?" I just wagged my tail and wished I could stay outside and reminisce a bit longer.