October Frost - A Modern Fairy Tale
With wrinkled jute rag sewed on to dry leaves covering his frail body, October sat alone on a stump next to the stream. He gazed in to the reflection of dark cloud that hid the moon. Mindlessly he picked up pebbles and threw them into the cloudy water. Ripples made the moon to emerge in the reflection. May be it is the stigma from the faulty name; he always kept his head down. “October, yeah... the eighth month” he stood and removed his red maple leaf covered hood. Then cleared his thought and spit in to the water. Bunch of hungry sunfish raced to feast on it.
Cycles of sadness, revulsion and rage formed deep scars on his face. Shabby grown hair all over his face made him look like an oak tree infested with canker worms all over it.
“What a day it was? Way too long for an old wretch like me.”
October cocooned himself with his wrists supporting his face and the arms resting on his thighs. Depressed and tired, he mumbled “Everyone looks at me like an old clown that has lost its wit. Even the kids run away scared seeing my shadow”.
The air was filling with curses and frustration everywhere. Men fixed the snow blowers and searched the garage for the missing nut. The bitter wind blew again and again forcing the elderly to continue raking forever. The old woman looked at the stain from egg thrown by the teenagers. She just learned the lesson not to turn the lights out early on Halloween night.
“I am so tired. I cannot go any farther tonight. Can those people making calendar trim me and make the year shorter? That should make at least few people happy.”
To cover his anger ensuing from despair, he tried to laugh loud and scream. His roar turned cool air to gusty wind making the sidings of homes to pound and the roofs to shake. Children screamed and jumped out of the bed then ran to their parents. In that tremor the trees dropped the last leaves dead clinging on to its branches.
Even in the anguish of his unrequited love, October maintained an unfading hope for his dream to turn real. Just the thought of the arrival of the enchanting November dressed in orange velvet casting golden shadows flared up warmth inside him. The prudent March told him several times “You live in Dreams my friend, November is a witch, get over it and move on”. He always took it as a joke and laughed like the east wind that pounds the pine trees in fury.
Everyone except him believed that the highly ambitious and the most desired among months, November is no sweet. Her overconfidence blinded in arrogance kept her single for all this long years and away from him. He looked in to his open palms with lines mutilated by the candles fallen from the carved pumpkins in the wind. Those burns erased the lines of his future beyond prediction. For October the future is uncertain and the present waited to be swallowed by the painful bitter cold. He simply continued to live in the moment without being bothered by anything.
He couldn't believe the world is so unappreciative and mean. Even after doing all those risky amusements for kids, they blamed him for anything and everything when he was out of sight. No one tried to know the real October or shared his sorrows. He just bared the pain for everyone else.
With only few hours left for hibernation, October walked close to November’s home. His knees wobbled and the heart pounded faster than ever. Gathering all his strength October raised his hand to knock the door; but the next moment he froze like a rain drop trapped in time before reaching the destiny. He stretched every fiber in his body to listen to the song from her grand piano, the song he wrote for her when he was young and blind with love. The story of two lovers and the merciless time keeper, that played its cruel mischief to keep them apart for ever.
October walked through the yard aiming for the closest wall to listen to the music and sat leaning against it. With his ears pressing to the wall outside November’s home, his dreams and mind blended in to that magnificent cadence. Without him knowing, tears rolled down his cheeks. While the stars and the clouds watched him disappearing, the wind from the east made his tears dry. It smeared those white salty smudge all over the grass and the windows.
Cycles of sadness, revulsion and rage formed deep scars on his face. Shabby grown hair all over his face made him look like an oak tree infested with canker worms all over it.
“What a day it was? Way too long for an old wretch like me.”
October cocooned himself with his wrists supporting his face and the arms resting on his thighs. Depressed and tired, he mumbled “Everyone looks at me like an old clown that has lost its wit. Even the kids run away scared seeing my shadow”.
The air was filling with curses and frustration everywhere. Men fixed the snow blowers and searched the garage for the missing nut. The bitter wind blew again and again forcing the elderly to continue raking forever. The old woman looked at the stain from egg thrown by the teenagers. She just learned the lesson not to turn the lights out early on Halloween night.
“I am so tired. I cannot go any farther tonight. Can those people making calendar trim me and make the year shorter? That should make at least few people happy.”
To cover his anger ensuing from despair, he tried to laugh loud and scream. His roar turned cool air to gusty wind making the sidings of homes to pound and the roofs to shake. Children screamed and jumped out of the bed then ran to their parents. In that tremor the trees dropped the last leaves dead clinging on to its branches.
Even in the anguish of his unrequited love, October maintained an unfading hope for his dream to turn real. Just the thought of the arrival of the enchanting November dressed in orange velvet casting golden shadows flared up warmth inside him. The prudent March told him several times “You live in Dreams my friend, November is a witch, get over it and move on”. He always took it as a joke and laughed like the east wind that pounds the pine trees in fury.
Everyone except him believed that the highly ambitious and the most desired among months, November is no sweet. Her overconfidence blinded in arrogance kept her single for all this long years and away from him. He looked in to his open palms with lines mutilated by the candles fallen from the carved pumpkins in the wind. Those burns erased the lines of his future beyond prediction. For October the future is uncertain and the present waited to be swallowed by the painful bitter cold. He simply continued to live in the moment without being bothered by anything.
He couldn't believe the world is so unappreciative and mean. Even after doing all those risky amusements for kids, they blamed him for anything and everything when he was out of sight. No one tried to know the real October or shared his sorrows. He just bared the pain for everyone else.
With only few hours left for hibernation, October walked close to November’s home. His knees wobbled and the heart pounded faster than ever. Gathering all his strength October raised his hand to knock the door; but the next moment he froze like a rain drop trapped in time before reaching the destiny. He stretched every fiber in his body to listen to the song from her grand piano, the song he wrote for her when he was young and blind with love. The story of two lovers and the merciless time keeper, that played its cruel mischief to keep them apart for ever.
October walked through the yard aiming for the closest wall to listen to the music and sat leaning against it. With his ears pressing to the wall outside November’s home, his dreams and mind blended in to that magnificent cadence. Without him knowing, tears rolled down his cheeks. While the stars and the clouds watched him disappearing, the wind from the east made his tears dry. It smeared those white salty smudge all over the grass and the windows.
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