The Single Brightest Red Leaf

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Piles of burning leaves lined the streets, sitting in front of each house. I was standing alone in the middle of the road, the only one seemingly curious about these fires. What time was it? Was it too late for anyone else to notice? I looked for the time, but it was nowhere to be found. 

I heard a soft beep that came from behind me as if someone needed to change the batteries on the fire alarm, but not the actual alarm signalling the fires. It was strange how quiet the street felt with this chaos. My fear was telling me to run, though my brain ignored the signals altogether. Suck in the middle of the road, my eyes stuck on this pile of scorching leaves. For a moment, I felt completely outside of myself as if I were a spirit observing the present day. 

There was a slight tapping coming from the window of our house. My beautiful wife and youthful daughter were standing next to each other staring at me from the window. The expression on their faces felt soulless. 

My daughter began moving her hand up slowly, placing it on the window. They didn’t move from the window, or instead, they couldn’t move from the window. 

I opened my mouth to call out to them, yet I heard no voice. I felt the hot air escape from my mouth, though there was absolutely no sound that followed. My screams merely trapped in my own mind and for no one else to hear. I tried to make any movement towards the door, but only my eyes made it. My front door appeared to be nailed shut with wooden planks. The wooden planks began to shake on the door like a zombie trying to break in. 

Still, my daughter held her hand on the window as my wife stood beside her. As I stared at them, though they were right there, I was somehow missing them. They felt so unreachable, and yet this was my house – our house. My heart was empty, while my mind was full of restlessness. 

There was that beeping again. What was it coming from? It certainly wasn’t coming from inside, it sounded as if it echoed from a speaker hidden in the skies. 

My neck finally loosened up as if it were unscrewing itself. I turned to see where the sound was coming from. Standing a few houses away, stood in the middle of the street, a dark stretched out shadow in the form of a person. The shadow seemed transparent and then concrete, like a flickering light. It stood utterly grounded, yet it’s apparitional feet nearly touched the ground. For a moment, it was still, as if it analyzing and questioning my presence. Soon it began to take its first step towards me. 

Something within me told me to fear it, and I did what I was told. It started taking more giant steps and moved faster towards me now. Then, it began charging at me. Without awareness, I was running. With every stride, the ground beneath me appeared as if I was moving with distance. 

When I looked straight ahead, there were rows of houses, each with a pile of burning leaves on their yard. Different persons each household appeared at the window as I ran by—each neighbour with the same expression on their face – soulless and hopeless, as one person from their family reached their hand up and pressed it against the window. 

I called out to them, but no one responded. My voice still confined way in the depths of my mind, feeling so distant. My breath grew heavier with each passing minute. 

The untouched leaves from the burning piles began to escape by the wind. As the leaves fell into my path, I heard crunching of the dry leaves with each step. Soon the whole road beneath me glowed of bright red leaves. 

I didn’t look back, I refused every ounce of my muscles not to look around. I have no clue why my body was doing the complete opposite of everything I wanted as if it were controlling itself on its own fate. 

My legs came to a complete halt, and I turned ever so slowly to face the darkness behind me. The shadow had its own dark glow, a glow darker than night. The air between me and the shadow felt warmer. As it grew closer, it became more sociable and harder to breathe. I felt suffocated in a sauna of sweltering panic. Instead, I was locked inside of a wooden chest and thrown into a hot tub to drown, with the chest nearly full of water taking my last chance at inhaling as much air as I could. 

Simultaneous to sucking what was left of breathable air, the shadow standing in front of me dissolved into my last breath. Its ice-cold essence slipped into my mouth, gliding my tongue and into the back of my throat like chugging ice-cold water. It stopped in the middle of my throat as if I were choking on an ice cube with sharp edges, scratching my throat as it forced itself further. 

I felt this piercing ice cube of darkness slipped further past my throat, melting into my lungs. However, somehow there was more water filling my lungs. Once again, I gasped for air. Only this time, I couldn’t exhale.

A bright light began to evade my sight, and my senses were entirely cut off. Then, there was that beeping again—that irritating beeping. While still, holding my breath against my own will, a rubber hand appeared out of thin air gripped my arm that kept me in place.

A single brightest red leaf floated gracefully above. I watched it slowly sway back and forth, dancing with the rhythm of the air around me. Another rubber glove grasped my chin, securely moving the back of my head to meet the end of my neck. The bright red leaf was soon floating downward right above me, landing delicately over my mouth. 

Immediately, the dark shadow choking me was liberated and flew out from my mouth. I took the chance at once, and with all my energy, I freed my breath with a vast cough and my eyes shot opened wide. 

…..

“You were quite shaken up, how are you feeling now, Stanley?” the doctor asked as she reached her rubber hand on my arm to comfort me. 

“I’m alright.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. We had to assist your breathing while you were asleep. It seemed as if you were having a tough time. I’m glad to hear you’re doing alright now. Call if you need anything, Stanley.” 

The doctor walked away and moved on to check in on the next patient. The intensive care unit seemed to have grown by the hundreds. The nurse behind her approached my bed quietly. 

“Hi sir, your wife and daughter came in again earlier today. Your daughter wanted me to give you this, she said she wanted to bring the outdoors to you. They say they miss you and hope you’ll be able to come home soon. She also said she knows that Fall is your favourite season, and felt like this might make you feel better.”

The nurse reached for her pocket and placed in front of me,… the single brightest red leaf.