Leafing the City

Stinky, noisy, crowded. There was nothing worse than the underground train. “Just a normal day,” Alden thought, “but it really dampens your mood when you get onto the train.” Alden was an average working person that you would see on the streets. He was rather tall, a bit fat and he had bright blue eyes, which was pretty rare. However, the light in his eyes went out as soon as he got on the train and started pondering about his work. His boss recently gave more work for him and other employees, claiming that this “can improve their speed and enhance their efficiency”, which made them angry and caused most workers threatening to quit their jobs. 



 Alden sighed and grumbled to himself when he thought of it, but he was timid and did not dare to leave his job. “If only I could go to somewhere more peaceful and convenient, then I don’t have to keep coming to this crappy job,” he thought, while listening to the train speeding on the tracks. 



 Just then, as Alden lowered his eyes to watch some videos on his phone, he saw something fluttering out of the corner of his eye. He raised his eyes and looked out of the dirty, unclear window, and saw something quite unexpected. At first, he thought it was a butterfly since it seems to be flying and spreading its wings out, but most of the butterflies had moved from the city to the outskirts of the countryside due to the worsening air pollution. So, he examined the flying ‘thing’ more thoroughly and carefully. Much to his surprise, the ‘thing’ was merely a fresh leaf, presumably one that just fell from a tree.



 The leaf was twisting and twirling in the air, like a dancer dancing gracefully and moving smoothly. It seemed to beckon to Alden, who hesitated for a moment as he was quite aware this was only a leaf, but decided to take a closer look. He moved slowly in the crowd and said softly “Sorry” as he kept squeezing. When he finally reached the glass pane after a painfully long time, he was convinced that the leaf probably already fell and drifted away. Nonetheless, he looked out of the window again, and, lo and behold, the leaf was still following the train. 



 Seeing the leaf sailing in the air, Alden suddenly remembered some of his past memories. One that strikes him the most was the one that he went to the countryside with his family. They were visiting his grandparents, who had been living in the countryside for a long time. While they were there, Alden would sometimes look out of the window of his grandparents’ little home, and he would sometimes be greeted by a squirrel, an owl or a leaf flowing by. It was a great time and a fond memory that Alden would cherish. Unfortunately, after his parents’ death and going to work, he eventually moved further into the city and slowly forgot about this memory until this day.

Remembering this, Alden also remembered the time when his parents would go to different places in the world with him. He had seen pelicans, tigers, penguins and other animals during his teenage years. His parents would always bring him along as they were working overseas, and would spend a lot of time talking about the animals. Sadly, after the car accident, he had to work to be able to live and he didn’t have any extra money or time to go to those places.

Thinking of all these memories made Alden tear up. He had been living by himself and he missed his parents all the time. It was his parents that he forced himself to keep working to at least live like how his parents wanted him to live. It was his parents that he chose to try to save others’ lives. He sobbed quietly and gathered himself afterwards. He had a choice. A choice that he finally saw now. A choice that he might feel regret later, but one that would let him live like how his parents wanted him to live. 



As the doors of the train opened as it arrived at the final destination, Alden wiped his tears with a tissue and walked out of the train door. He then proceeded to went to a housing agency and talked for a while. After discussing and debating for a while, they came to an agreement and he signed the papers. When he got outside, he felt more cheerful and determined. He called his boss, “Hey boss, just want to inform you, I’m not working anymore. I…” “What???” “…decided to quit my job. Thanks for the salary, it was enough for my new countryside house. I’ll give you the letter later. See ya!” Alden then stopped the phone call with his infuriated boss and walked briskly to the nearest park.



 It was almost evening when he got to the park and the sun was setting, creating a orange-pinkish sky. This park was at the outskirts of the city, so not much people were at the park. Alden walked slowly to a bench, and sat down on one end of the bench. He put his bag on the other end of the bench and leaned backwards, allowing him to see the sky and the trees and the birds.



 Now looking the beautiful sky, Alden felt a slight pang of regret as he remembered that he was selling his old apartment in order to buy a countryside house. It might not be the best thing he has ever lived in, but it was a place that contained some of his memories, whether they were good or bad. He prayed to God and hoped that he had done the right choice. But no matter what the future might be, he was ready to face it even it was hard and bitter. 

  

 Sitting up and watching the birds fly away, Alden smiled contentedly as he watched the sun disappeared. The birds were chirping, the wind breezing and the children laughing. It was all together a wonderful scenery and everything was great. He was at peace.