It was the loveliest autumn day that she could remember. The leaves of the maples and birches had turned gorgeous hues of red and gold and orange. It was still early in the autumn yet, so none of the leaves had turned brown and started to rot on the sidewalks. All the leaves were still bright and colourful, looking more alive now than in the height of the green summer. Also since it was barely autumn, the air was still warm enough to wear a light jacket. The air was crisp, and the wind carried a chill, but it was more refreshing than chilling. When the breeze blew, it carried with it a scent of burning wood, and the bittersweet smell of dried leaves. As she walked along the quiet street, she shuffled through the leaves in the gutter, enjoying the crackling sound that they made. She was walking down a street in her little neighbourhood. She was heading for the dead end a couple of blocks away from her house. At the dead end, there was a little woods with a path you could walk along. A breeze came up and she sniffed the air with her little button nose. It had been a day like this when she had met the love of her life. She had run into him as she was jogging with her dog. They had gotten to talking, and found that they got along very well. They had been inseparable ever since. But that was almost two years ago. Three weeks ago they had broken up. They would still be together if What-Her-Name hadn’t come along. She knew that he still loved her, but she couldn’t quite seem able to convince him of it. She missed him terribly. He had been her best friend during the past couple of years. She had spent every waking moment with him, or talking about him. As a result, she had few casual friends left, and no close friends at all. It hadn’t bothered her at the time. She thought she would never need anyone other than him. But now she was alone, with no one to talk to and help her through her pain. The girl turned a corner and headed down the last block towards the woods. In the early evening light, her long auburn hair lit up like a fiery halo around her head. She had tried talking to her mother, but it was pretty hard since their relationship was mostly full of arguments anyways. Her mom sympathized though, since she had lost her husband six months ago in the same way. But ever since, the relationship between the mother and daughter had been tense. The girl’s hands were getting a little cold. She had thin hands; musician’s hands her father used to call them. They had small palms but long and slender fingers. She had made great use of them during her life playing her flute. She played like an angel. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her gloves. As she did so, a little scrap of paper fell out of her pocket. After putting on her mittens, she reached down and picked up the piece of paper and read it. It was a detention slip from her school issuing her three detentions. She had missed a lot of school lately. Sometimes she left in the middle of the day; sometimes she just didn’t come at all. She hadn’t felt much like learning these days. She spent most of her time staring out the front window waiting for her boyfriend to walk by. He had to walk by her house every day to get home from school. Sometimes she would run out to him and talk to him. She would fire a million questions at him until he would finally leave in frustration and she would go inside and cry on her bed. She still called him every night. And when he’d sometimes hang up on her, she’d immediately call him back. When he couldn’t come to the phone, she called back every ten minutes until he could. Every night during these phone calls, she would tell him how angry she was, and how much she hated him. Then he would ask why she even bothered calling. She really didn’t know why, she just knew that no matter how much she hated him, she couldn’t let him go. She had almost reached the end of the street. She was passing in front of the last house on the street. It was his. She thought about going to the door and talking to him. She even started up the driveway. But she decisively turned around and continued to the woods. She was determined not to go back. But as she set her thin jaw and marched steadily away, her big hazel eyes filled with tears. She heard the growl of a car engine behind her. She whipped around to see it. Maybe he was going to come and pick her up and take her out for a fancy dinner and an elaborate apology! But it was just an old luxury car, coming to turn around in the space at the end of the street. It reminded her of the car her grandfather used to drive. He didn’t drive it anymore because he had passed away a month ago. She had admired him so much, and missed him terribly. Her grandmother of the same family had also passed away, a year before her husband. She missed her terribly too. Everyone seemed to be leaving her these days; her grandparents, her boyfriend, even her own father. He had moved away after he decided that he’d rather be with is secretary than his wife and children. The girl and her sister still saw him sometimes, but there was always this shadow of anger and resentment blanketing their every second weekend visits. Finally she stepped through the little wooden stakes that stood as the opening to the wood. It was even more beautiful than the streets had been. Even more beautiful than the park she’d cut through. There were many more trees along every side of her, each with golden, red and bright orange leaves. And under her feet, a hundred more leaves crunched with every step she took. When she looked upwards, she could only barely see the sky between the branches of the trees, but it was a bright blue, with only a few fluffy white clouds near the horizon. Since it was September, the sun had begun to set a little earlier. It was only early evening, but the setting sun had cast a golden glow over everything. The smell of the woods was almost as overwhelming as the lovely sights. She could smell all the dying wildflowers, the decaying leaves, and just a wonderful scent of freshness that you are only able to smell in a forest. Everything seems to smell sweet and pleasant. If she stood very still, she could hear the running of the creek in the distance. The creek flowed through the whole woods, twisting and turning in its little bed. It gurgled into little waterfalls and became a little pool at parts where beavers had set up their dams. About now, there would be salmon running in the creek. Most people in the neighbourhood would go down and watch them swimming before the season was over. A lot of the children would go looking for fish that had smashed on the big rocks jutting out of the creek. There was this one spot that made a sort of little beach, where the girl used to go and skip rocks when she was young. You could see a lot of the fish from here because you were almost at water level. It was also the most treacherous part of the creek for the salmon because there was a little water fall with sharp rocks at the bottom of it. This is where most of the children looked for dead fish to poke with sticks. The girl walked on after listening to the babble of the creek for a little while. She could also hear the chirruping of small birds in the trees. Most of the birds had already migrated to warmer climates for the winter, but the few that were left were making a delightful song on the trees. The girl closed her eyes. Without looking at the world around her, she could almost pretend that it was spring instead of fall. The hot sun on her face reminded her of the time of year when she would cast off her overbearing winter coat and welcome the sunlight. The chirping birds also sounded like the first birds of spring, coming to tell everyone the wonderful news that the cold is over. But she couldn’t pretend forever. She opened her eyes and saw the September day that was still surrounding her. She kept walking, crunching all the fallen leaves beneath her feet. Finally, she came to her destination within the woods. She arrived at a tall cliff that overlooked the creek. It was a very beautiful spot because it was so high. You could see for a large distance around you. For a very long while the girl sat on a grassy part of the cliff and stared at the water. As she stared at the rushing creek she thought about her life. She thought about her boyfriend, her parents, her grandparents, about the friends she had lost. She thought about how lonely she was. After many long minutes, the girl stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She took from her pocket an envelope and a nail. She found a large round rock and used it to pound the nail through the envelope and into a nearby tree. Then she turned and looked over the edge of the cliff. Kissing the heart-shaped locket that hung around her neck, the girl stepped forward and took her fall.