He said “I love the fall. The leaves. I wish it would stay like this all year."
“Yeah,” she responded slowly, looking away. After a pause, “But isn't it a little scary sometimes?”
“What's so scary about leaves?” he laughed as one gently floated down and landed next to them, joining the canvas of already splattered oranges and browns and reds covering the sidewalk. “They're not gonna hurt you." He leaned back on the bench and imagined a world in which falling leaves were heavy enough to do real damage. That'd be cool, his mind wandered.
“It's not that,” she shot back, “it's just… they know when it's time to leave. You know, time to change. Doesn't that scare you a little?”
Lost, he laughed again. “I don't know what you're talking about. They're just leaves.”
“Yeah, you're right,” she lied. Sighing, “you ready?”
Not waiting for a response, she got up and started walking down the painted sidewalk. Immediately, she felt different, scared. There was no need to look, she knew she was walking alone. In a moment, her questions were answered. “…time to leave. You know, time to change.”
She kept walking.